!3r,  gapbel  Isaac. 


JE 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  SYNAGOGUE  OF  THF.  c  \TION' 

MICKVE  ISRAEL,  PHILADELPHIA 


JEWISH  SERVICES 
IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


JEWISH  SERVICES 
IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


By 
LEWIS  N.  DEMBITZ 


Philadelphia : 

The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America 
J898 


COPYRIGHT,  1898,  BY  • 
THF.  JEWISH  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 


Press  of 

Kdward  Stern  &  Co.,  Inc. 

Philadelphia 


PREFACE 

Five  years  ago  I  entered  upon  the  work  of  drawing  up  an 
analytic  sketch  of  the  Jewish  Services,  but  was  prevented 
by  work  more  in  the  line  of  my  profession  from  finishing 
the  task  or  even  studying  up  the  material  in  the  fullness 
demanded  by  honest  authorship.  Some  years  later  the 
Chairman  of  the  Publication  Committee  of  the  Jewish 
Publication  Society,  hearing  of  my  labors  in  that  line, 
opened  a  correspondence  with  me  about  getting  up  a  book 
on  the  subject,  to  be  published  by  that  body.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  committee  in  charge  the  wish  was  expressed  that  the 
sketch  should  be  historical  as  well  as  analytic,  and  I 
assented  to  this  proposal,  which  greatly  increased  my 
labor;  for,  in  our  dayS,  history  means,  above  all  things, 
going  back  to  original  sources;  and  to  one  residing  in  a 
Western  city,  with  no  great  libraries  at  hand,  with  but  few 
friends  near  him  with  whom  to  advise;  to  one  not  a  profes- 
sional but  an  amateur  only  in  Rabbinic  lore,  and  who  has 
to  attend  his  business  office  in  business  hours,  it  is  a  weari- 
ness to  the  flesh  to  hunt  up  and  verify  authorities  in  the 
oldest  and  the  original  sources  on  such  a  wide  subject  as 
the  Jewish  Services  in  Synagogue  and  Home. 

Hence,  like  a  careful  bookkeeper,  I  put  an  E.  O.  E.  at 
the  head  as  well  as  at  the  bottom  of  my  statement: 

ERRORS  AND   OMISSIONS   EXCEPTED 

I  have  availed  myself  freely  of  the  historical  researches 
made  by  others,  from  Abudraham's  work,  written  about 
1340,  to  pamphlets  bearing  the  date  in  1897.  Much  of  the 
original  material  was  not  otherwise  accessible  to  me,  and 
much  more  time  would  have  been  wasted  in  finding  what 

(5) 


1710232 


6  PREFACE 

is  hidden  away  in  the  Talmud  and  Midrash,  often  in  the 
most  unexpected  places.  Wherever  the  usage  of  authors 
demanded  it,  credit  has  been  given  to  the  scholars  and 
investigators  of  whose  work  I  have  availed  myself. 

The  volume  has  been  much  swelled  by  the  necessity  of 
laying  before  my  readers  the  chief  parts  of  our  liturgy  and 
samples  of  the  later  and  less  essential  parts  in  a  faithful 
English  translation,  as  the  greater  number  of  those  whom 
this  book  will  reach  are  not  acquainted  with  the  old  Prayer 
Book,  that  peculiar  treasure  of  Israel,  nor  even  possessed 
of  a  copy,  otherwise  I  might,  like  German  authors  on  the 
subject,  have  referred  to  parts  of  the  prayers  by  name  with- 
out embodying  them  in  the  text.  Longer  passages  from 
the  Bible,  such  as  whole  Psalms,  are  not  copied,  but  simply 
cited. 

Citations  from  or  references  to  the  Bible  are  marked  in 
the  text,  as  all  readers  have  a  copy  within  easy  reach.  The 
chapter  and  verse  number  follow  the  Hebrew  text;  in 
Psalms  with  a  long  title  the  verse  number  is  higher  by  one 
than  in  the  English  common  version.  Other  citations  are 
made  in  the  notes,  to  which  also  much  of  the  minor  his- 
torical detail  is  relegated.  The  name  of  a  Talmudic  treatise 
with  chapter  and  section  means  the  Mishna;  the  Babylonian 
Talmud  is  cited  by  the  letters  T.  B.  before  the  treatise,  and 
the  folio,  with  a  or  b  for  the  page;  the  Jerusalem  Talmud 
in  the  ordinary  way,  by  the  section  or  Halacha  of  the 
Mishna  on  which  it  comments.  The  citation  of  "Hilchoth" 
indicates  the  Code  of  Maimonides. 

With  these  few  preliminaries  I  submit  my  work  to  the 
kind  reader,  unlearned  or  learned. 

LEWIS  N.  DEMBITZ. 

Louisville,  August  ist, 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

BOOK  I 
GENERAL  AND    HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I.     Divisions  of  the  Jewish  Body n 

CHAPTER  II.    Historic  Background — Life-Center  in  Palestine. .  19 
CHAPTER  III.     Historic    Background — Center    no    longer    in 

Palestine  33 

CHAPTER  IV.    Midrash  and  Aggadta 44 

CHAPTER  V.     Secret  Lore,  or  Cabbala 50 

CHAPTER  VI.    The  Calendar 57 

CHAPTER  VII.    The  Synagogue  and  its  Functionaries 64 

BOOK  II 
THE   DEVOTIONS   OF  THE   SYNAGOGUE 

CHAPTER  I.    Outline  of  the  Liturgy 75 

CHAPTER  II.    Source  and  Style  82 

CHAPTER  III.    The  Shema  in  the  Evening 89 

CHAPTER  IV.    The  Shema  in  the  Morning 95 

CHAPTER  V.    Responses — the  Kaddish 105 

CHAPTER  VI.    The  Constant  Parts  of  the  Tefilla 112 

CHAPTER  VII.     Modifications  of  the  Constant  Parts  121 

CHAPTER  VIII.     The  Work-day  Benedictions  128 

CHAPTER  IX.    The  Middle  Benediction  on  Days  of  Rest 140 

CHAPTER  X.     The  "Additional,"  or  Musaf 148 

CHAPTER  XL    The  Day  of  Memorial 155 

CHAPTER  XII.    The  Day  of  Atonement 165 

CHAPTER  XIII.    Psalms  and  Bible  Verses  in  the  Service 180 

CHAPTER  XIV.    Study  as  Part  of  the  Liturgy 193 

(7) 


8  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XV.    The  Lesser  and  the  Doubtful  Benedictions 203 

CHAPTER  XVI.    Other  Prose  Compositions 212 

CHAPTER  XVII.    The  Late  "Poetry"— General  Plan   222 

CHAPTER  XVIII.    Samples  of  Post-Biblical  Poetry 231 

CHAPTER  XIX.    Cabbalistic  Interpolations 241 

BOOK  III 

THE    DESK   AND    THE    PULPIT 

CHAPTER  I.    The  Weekly  Pentateuch  Lesson 247 

CHAPTER  II.    Lessons  Outside  of  the  Weekly  Order 254 

CHAPTER  III.    How  the  Lesson  is  Distributed 260 

CHAPTER  IV.    The  Lesson  from  the  Prophets 265 

CHAPTER  V.    The  Liturgy  of  the  Desk 276 

CHAPTER  VI.    The  Five  Small  Books 284 

CHAPTER  VII.     The  Interpreter,   or  Methurgaman    288 

CHAPTER  VIII.     Preaching 293 

BOOK  IV 

INCIDENTS    AND    CEREMONIES 

CHAPTER  I.    Posture,  Sound,  Thought  299 

CHAPTER  II.    The  Trope 308 

CHAPTER  III.     Fringes  and  Phylacteries 312 

CHAPTER  IV.    Ceremonies  on  Yearly  Occasions 318 

BOOK  V 
THE   JEWISH    HOME 

CHAPTER  I.    Minian  at  the  House 329 

CHAPTER  II.    What  Children  Learn  First  334 

CHAPTER  III.    The  Meal 339 

CHAPTER  IV.    Sanctification  and  Separation 348 

CHAPTER  V.    The  Passover  Night 356 

Notes 37! 

Indexes 44I 


BOOK  I 

General  and  Historical  Introduction 


BOOK  I 

GENERAL    AND    HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER  I 

DIVISIONS   OF   THE  JEWISH    BODY 

THE  word  "Services"  has  been  chosen  as  a  part  of  the 
title  of  this  work  rather  than  "Ritual,"  which  is  too  com- 
prehensive, or  "Liturgy,"  which  is  too  narrow.  The  work 
is  to  treat  of  everything  that  is  spoken  or  read  in  the  Syna- 
gogue or  in  the  Jewish  Home  by  way  of  religious  duty,  and 
incidentally  of  what  is  done  to  suit  the  action  to  the  word. 

We  treat  only  of  the  services  according  to  the  old  rituals, 
unaffected  by  those  reforms,  beginning  at  Hamburg  in 
1819,  based  on  the  rejection  of  a  part  of  the  beliefs  on  which 
the  old  order  of  services  was  founded.  Although  the 
number  of  Jews  and  Jewesses  who  no  longer  share  these 
beliefs  is  quite  considerable,  the  number  of  Synagogues  that 
have  adopted  a  reformed  service  is,  at  the  time  of  this  writ- 
ing, quite  small  except  in  the  United  States  and  in  Ger- 
many. 

But  in  many  congregations  of  Europe  and  America  the 
services  have  been  modernized  without  the  abrogation  of 
anything  that  had  been  deemed  obligatory  in  the  order  of 
worship.  Music  suited  to  Western  tastes  has  taken  the 
place  of  a  drawling  chant  or  of  wild  license  and  inharmoni- 
ous noise,  and  sermons  in  correct  speech  have  become  an 
integral  part  of  the  service,  in  place  of  long  and  disjointed 
talks  in  an  uncouth  jargon,  filled  either  with  bold  misinter- 


12         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

pretationof  Scripture  or  with  dry,  legal  hair-splitting,  which 
were  formerly  heard  in  the  Synagogue  at  odd  times.  More- 
over, many  of  the  "poetries,"  composed  in  the  middle 
ages  to  fill  up  time  on  Festivals  and  favored  Sabbaths  in 
the  absence  of  a  preacher,  have  been  dropped  by  the  "pro- 
gressives," as  indeed  they  had  always  been  discountenanced 
by  many  otherwise  strict  and  old-fashioned  Jews.  As  the 
Jews  are  naturally  gifted  with  a  good  ear,  and  many 
also  with  a  good  voice  for  music,  the  "progressive"  or 
choir  Synagogues  have  spread  rapidly  since  Samuel  Sulzer 
introduced  the  beginnings  of  his  "Song  of  Zion"  at  the 
great  Synagogue  of  Vienna  in  1829.  Even  in  Russian 
Poland  and  Russia,  at  least  in  the  great  cities,  the  prejudice 
against  the  innovation  has  been  overcome,  and  many  con- 
gregations lack  the  choir  or  the  musically-trained  leader 
only  by  reason  of  their  poverty. 

But  there  is  a  division  much  older  than  any  between 
orthodoxy,  progress,  and  reform;  it  is  that  between  the 
Scfardim,  or  Jews  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  ritual,  and 
the  Astikenazim,  or  German  and  Polish  Jews.  The  Hebrew 
names  for  the  divisions  are  based  on  a  notion  which  iden- 
tifies Sepharad,  mentioned  in  the  prophecy  of  Obadiah,  with 
Spain,  and  another  which  makes  Ashkenaz,  a  grandson  of 
Xoah,  the  ancestor  of  the  Teutonic  race.1  The  Sefardim, 
embracing  the  Jews  dwelling  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  in 
Provence,  Italy,  North  Africa,  and  Turkey,  were,  in  1492, 
at  the  time  of  the  expulsion  from  Spain,  the  more  important 
branch  in  wealth,  in  learning  and  refinement,  probably  also 
in  numbers;  but  they  have  dropped  into  the  background 
since  the  culture  of  the  times  has  reached  the  Jews  of  Ger- 
many and  adjoining  countries,  and  since  those  in  the 
east  of  Europe  have  increased  to  such  vast  multitudes.  At 
present  the  Ashkenazim  outnumber  the  Sefardim  by  fully 
twelve  to  one,  but  the  customs  of  the  latter  have  by  no 
means  lost  their  historic  importance. 

1  he  services  of  the  Synagogue  are  carried  on  in  Hebrew. 


DIVISIONS  OF  THE  JEWISH  BODY  j  ^ 

\J 

The  Sefardim  and  Ashkenazim  differ  mainly  in  their  ways 
of  reading  this  language.  The  former  have  pretty  nearly 
kept  up  the  classic  pronunciation  of  Judea,  the  same  by 
which  Hebrew  names  of  persons  and  places  were  trans- 
literated into  Greek,  as  we  find  them  in  the  Septuagint  (or 
Greek  Old  Testament)  and  in  the  New  Testament,  as  far 
as  Hebrew  sounds  could  be  represented  by  Greek  letters. 
Hebrew,  read  in  the  Sefardic  fashion,  is  "the  Jews'  lan- 
guage" referred  to  in  Isaiah  36:  n  and  Nehemiah  13:  24. 
The  Ashkenazim  have,  on  the  other  hand,  brought  with 
them  the  pronunciation  of  Galilee,2  from  which  district  a 
great  colony  is  said  to  have  been  deported  to  the  lower 
Rhine  in  the  days  of  Hadrian.  Thence  their  descendants 
overflowed  the  north  of  Europe,  especially  Bohemia,  Hun- 
gary, Poland.  Witness  the  German  speech,  or  at  least  the 
German  jargon  which  ^he  Jews  of  these  countries  have 
employed  among  themselves  for  hundreds  of  years  in  the 
midst  of  a.  Slavonic  population.  Lately  millions  of  them 
have  overflowed  further  east,  into  Russia,  Roumania,  and 
Turkey. 

But  before  we  can  speak  of  these  differences  we  must 
first  fix  the  sounds  which  the  English  letters  are  to  desig- 
nate. The  vowels,  a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  have  their  "Roman" 
values,  the  same  as  in  German  and  Italian;  /  that  of  con- 
sonant y;  ch  has  the  Scotch  or  German  sound;  5  is  always 
sharp.  We  might  mark  h  with  some  diacritical  mark  when 
it  represents  in  Hebrew  the  stronger  breath  Heth,  and 
employ  an  inverted  apostrophe  for  that  peculiar  guttural, 
the  Hebrew  'Ayin;  but  to  do  so  regularly  would  be  needless 
trouble  for  the  printer  and  the  reader.  Tz  will  be  written 
for  the  Hebrew  Tzaddi. 

I.  The  chief  differences  in  reading  are  these: 
The  vowel  called  Kametz  is  to  the  Sefardim  generally 
long  a,  rarely  short  o;  to  the  Germans,  always  o.     Hence, 
the  latter  read  the  name  of  the  first  man  Odom.     There  is 
a  short  a,  which  is  pronounced  alike  by  both  branches. 


14        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  vowel  Tzere  is  to  the  Sefardim  and  to  many  Germans 
and  Poles  long  c,  but  in  eastern  Germany  and  with  the 
Ashkenazim  of  England  it  sounds  like  the  diphthongal 
English  i  (the  short  e  all  pronounce  alike). 

The  vowel  Holem  is  to  the  Sefardim  long  o,  to  the  Ger- 
mans and  Poles  on  or  some  corruption  thereof.  Thus  a 
Cohen  is  in  a  London  Synagogue  a  Cowhine. 

The  vowel  Shurek,  pronounced  by  the  Sefardim  u,  is  by 
most  Polish  and  Hungarian  Jews  sounded  like  the  French 
u  or  German  ue.  This  peculiarity  may  indicate  an  overland 
immigration  into  these  countries  independent  of  the  Ger- 
man element,  for  to  the  Germans  proper  it  is  u. 

The  letter  Beth  is  to  the  Sefardim  always  b.  But  when 
"weak,"  that  is,  when  it  follows  a  vowel  and  is  not  doubled, 
it  is  to  the  Germans  and  Poles  a  v. 

The  letter  Tav  is  to  the  Sefardim  always  t,  but  when 
"weak"  it  is  to  the  Germans  and  Poles  a  sharp  s;  the  West 
Africans  then  sound  it  ts,  the  English  Bible  ti^rns  it  into 
th.  Hence,  Rut  and  Rus  are  the  Sefardic  and  German  for 
Ruth. 

The  Sefardim  put  a  short  vowel  between  the  two  con- 
sonants which  would  otherwise  introduce  the  same  syllable 
(known  in  grammar  as  the  Sheva  mobile).  In  the  English 
Bible  this  vowel  is  generally  marked  by  an  e,  in  a  few  well- 
known  names  by  a  or  o;  the  Germans  and  Poles  read  the 
two  consonants  closely  together.  The  last  three  points 
are  illustrated  by  the  word  Kctubim  (meaning  the  books 
of  the  Bible  after  the  Law  and  the  Prophets),  which  in  the 
German  pronunciation  becomes  Xuvim. 

The  letter  'Ayin  denotes  a  guttural  peculiar  to  the  Semitic 
tongues,  produced  by  breathing  while  the  back  of  the 
mouth  is  compressed.  The  Sefardim  in  Mohammedan 
countries  give  to  this  letter  the  true  old  sound;  those  in 
Holland,  England,  and  the  United  States  have  turned  it  into 
ng,  which  is  wholly  wrong;  the  Germans  and  Poles  drop 
it  altogether,  and  thus  fail  to  distinguish  between  'Ayin  and 


DIVISIONS  OF  THE  JE WISH  BODY  15 

Alef.  Moreover,  the  Sefardim  observe  the  rules  of  the 
word-accent,  which  in  most  words  ought  to  fall  on  the  last 
syllable;  the  Germans  and  Poles  do  not  observe  them,  gen- 
erally letting  the  accent  rest  on  the  last  syllable  but  one. 

II.  Next  comes  the  difference  in  intoning  prayers  and 
Bible  lessons.     The  Sefardim  have  pretty  much  maintained 
the  old  Oriental  chants,  which  move  in  a  very  narrow  com- 
pass, while  the  Germans  and  Poles  have  allowed  a  strong 
European  element  to  enter  their  religious  music.     Their 
tunes  and  chants  are  lively  and  run  through  a  considerable 
compass. 

III.  There  is  lastly  a  considerable  divergence  between 
the  German  and  the  Portuguese  service  books.    The  more 
important  and  old  established  devotions  are  the  same,  or 
differ  only  in  a  few  words  (nearly  always  so,  in  that  the 
form  used  by  the  Sefardim  is  fuller  of  synonyms  and  more 
diffuse),   but   the   later   additions   have   not   always   been 
accepted  by  both  branches.    The  German  service  book  came 
originally  from  Tiberias  in   Galilee,  that  of  the  Sefardim 
(the  "Ritual"  of  R.  Amram)  from  the  schools  of  Baby- 
lonia early  in  the  ninth  century.     In  later  times  the  two 
great  branches  often  borrowed  new  compositions  or  the 
use  of  Psalms  and  other  Biblical  passages  from  each  other.3 

The  old  standards  fully  recognize  the  right  of  congrega- 
tions in  different  lands  to  vary  in  their  customs  in  all  unes- 
sential details,  and  make  it  the  duty  of  the  individual  to 
conform  to  the  customs  of  his  own  community.4  The 
Mishna,  after  the  Law  of  Moses,  our  oldest  Code,  often  uses 
the  phrase,  "Everything  according  to  the  custom  (Minhag) 
of  the  country,"  and  we  speak  now  of  the  "Portuguese 
Minhag"  and  the  "German  Minhag."  The  latter  is  divided 
into  the  German  proper  (Western  Germany)  and  the  Polish 
Minhag,  that  of  Eastern  Germany  and  the  countries  east 
and  southeast  of  it.  The  many  migrations  of  Israel  have 
brought  together  in  new  abodes  numbers  of  Jewish  fami- 
lies, who  had  for  generations  respectively  used  one  or  the 


16         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

other  Minhag  in  their  several  homes.  Old  associations 
being  stronger  than  mere  nearness  in  space,  several  com- 
munities would  grow  up,  those  of  the  same  custom  herding 
together,  and  each  of  these  communities  would,  in  the  same 
city,  set  up  a  Synagogue  for  worship  according  to  its  own 
Minhag.  Thus  there  are  Spanish  or  Portuguese  Synagogues 
in  London,  Paris,  Hamburg,  and  Vienna,  although  in  each 
of  these  cities  the  bulk  of  the  Jewish  population  adheres  to 
the  German  or  Polish  ritual.  We  find  a  like  condition  as 
early  as  the  twelfth  century  at  Cairo,  where  a  Palestinian 
and  a  Babylonian  congregation  worshipped  within  the 
walls  of  one  city,  the  former  reading  the  Law  in  a  cycle  of 
three  years,  the  latter  in  one  year.5 

In  this  book  the  sounds  of  Hebrew  words  and  names 
occurring  in  the  text  will,  after  the  usage  of  all  modern 
writers,  follow  the  Sefardic  mode  of  reading,  and  be 
represented  by  English  letters  as  indicated  above;  but 
wherever  the  name  of  a  person  or  place  occurs  in  the  Eng- 
lish Bible  the  spelling  there  used  will  be  followed.  In 
fact,  this  cannot  differ  much  from  the  proposed  sys- 
tem, being  also  based  on  the  Sefardic  way  of  reading 
and  on  the  use  of  the  English  letters  indicated  above, 
except  that  simple  z  is  used  for  te  (Zion  ought  to  be  Tzion), 
and  in  all  best-known  names,  such  as  Moses  (Mosheh), 
Samuel  (Shemuel),  Solomon  (Shelomo),  which  had  become 
part  of  the  language  before  the  Reformation,  the  English 
Bible  follows  the  Latin  version,  the  Vulgate.  But  while  we 
go  with  the  Sefardim  in  pronunciation,  we  shall,  in  most 
cases,  present  the  forms  of  prayer  of  the  "Germans,"  as 
the  Ashkenazic  division  of  the  race  is  vastly  in  the  ma- 
jority, and  as,  moreover,  these  forms  are  generally  more 
concise.6 

But  while  the  Sefardim  are  painfully  prolix  in  many  of 
the  older  prayers,  they  have  kept  their  services  almost  free 
from  the  "poetries/'  which  began  to  overwhelm  the  liturgy 
of  the  Synagogue  late  in  the  ninth  century,  soon  after  the 


DIVISIONS  OF  THE  JE WISH  BODY  17 

standards  for  the  two  branches  of  Jewry  had  been  estab- 
lished. Of  these  compositions  the  German  branch  has 
adopted  many  that  have  no  devotional  value,  and  some, 
moreover,  almost  or  quite  unintelligible  even  to  the  best  He- 
brew scholars.  In  giving  very  few  specimens  of  this  litera- 
ture, this  work  will,  at  least  in  a  negative  way,  side  with  the 
Sefardim  and  with  the  progressive  party  among  the  Ger- 
mans. 

The  Jews  of  Yemen,  few  in  number,  poor,  without 
worldly  power  or  much  learning,  are  nevertheless  of  inter- 
est because  some  customs  survive  among  them  that  have 
died  out  everywhere  else,  and  because,  in  the  pronunciation 
of  Hebrew,  they  stand  midway  between  Sefardim  and  Ger- 
mans or  Poles.  Like  the  former  they  sound  the  Sheva 
mobile,  i.  e.,  they  do  not  begin  a  syllable  with  two  conso- 
nants, and  they  do  not  modify  the  aspirates  of  Beth  and  Tav. 
They  pronounce  the  vowels  nearly  like  the  Germans,  and 
they  use  in  their  manuscripts  generally  the  "supralinear" 
vowelling,  which  is  suited  to  their  pronunciation.  In  their 
ritual,  which,  through  the  influence  of  Maimonides  in  the 
twelfth  or  thirteenth  century,  was  assimilated  to  that  of  the 
Sefardim,  there  are  yet  some  traces  of  the  German  ritual 
which  came  to  them  from  Palestine.7  It  lies  beyond  our 
purpose  to  analyze  the  services  of  the  Karaite  sect  in  the 
Crimea,  who  profess  to  have  cut  loose  entirely  from  the 
Rabbinical  traditions,  or  of  the  one  small  congregation  of 
Samaritans  who  are  worshipping  in  their  little  Synagogue 
at  Nabloos  in  central  Palestine,  and  who  still  sacrifice 
their  Passover  lambs  every  year. 

But  there  is  a  sect  numbered  by  hundreds  of  thousands, 
spread  through  large  parts  of  Poland,  Russia,  Northern 
Hungary,  and  Roumania,  who  should  not  be  passed  over: 
the  Hasidim,  or  "Pious,"  the  followers  of  Israel  Ba'al  Shem 
Tob  (possessor  of  the  good  name,  i.  e.,  wonder-worker  by 
the  use  of  divine  names).  This  sect  was  founded  in  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  has  grown  considerably 


l8        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

in  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  in  measure  as  it  mod- 
erated its  divergences  from  the  general  body.  The  Ha- 
sidim  do  not  deny  the  binding  force  of  the  laws  and  customs 
of  ordinary  Jews,  but  they  ascribe  a  higher  value  to  the 
mystic  writings,  the  Cabbala,  than  to  the  Talmud,  and  their 
spiritual  guides  are  chosen  not  for  their  learning,  but  for 
their  supposed  miraculous  gifts.  They  pronounce  Hebrew 
like  the  other  Jews  of  the  countries  which  they  inhabit,  but 
their  Prayer  Book  is  borrowed  in  the  main  from  the 
Sefardic  ritual.8 


CHAPTER  II 

HISTORIC    BACKGROUND LIFE-CENTER     IN     PALESTINE 

As  WE  shall  in  these  pages  seek  to  assign  every  part  and 
every  feature  of  the  Jewish  worship  of  God,  by  spoken 
words  in  the  Synagogue  and  at  the  home,  to  the 'time  of  its 
origin,  we  must  first  sketch  and  define  the  periods  through 
which  the  Jewish  community  has  passed  since  the  first 
beginnings  of  the  order  of  services  which  has  come  down  to 
our  days.  These  periods  fall  naturally  into  two  divisions — 
the  older,  when  the  life  of  our  religion  centered  within  the 
Holy  Land,  at  Jerusalem,  at  Jamnia,  and  lastly  in  Galilee, 
down  to  the  compilation  of  the  Mishna  in  or  about  the  year 
220  of  the  present  era;  and  the  later,  in  which  the  leader- 
ship of  Israel,  after  remaining  for  a  few  hundred  years  with 
the  schools  of  Babylonia,  fell  into  abeyance  altogether,  and 
the  nation  had  no  longer  a  religious  any  more  than  a  polit- 
ical center. 

In  treating  of  the  Palestinian  times  we  need  not  go  back 
of  the  Babylonian  exile.  The  destruction  of  Solomon's 
Temple  is  usually  assigned  to  the  year  588  before  the  com- 
mon era.  In  the  year  538  Cyrus  became  King  of  Babylon, 
and  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign  as  such  he  published  his 
famous  decree  allowing  the  Jews  to  return  to  Jerusalem. 
The  first  colony  went  out  under  Zerubbabel  of  the  House 
of  David,  and  built  an  altar  on  the  sacred  spot.  In  the 
account  which  the  Book  of  Ezra  has  left  us  of  this  great 
event,  we  find  the  one  line  of  our  present  Prayer  Book  of 
which  the  continuous  use  may  be  traced  back  to  the  days  of 
the  old  Commonwealth.  It  was  sung  by  men  who  had 

(19) 


20        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

seen  the  first  Temple,  as  we  know  also  on  the  inde- 
pendent testimony  of  Jeremiah :  "Give  thanks  to  the  Lord 
for  He  is  good;  for  His  mercy  endureth  forever."1 

Much  indeed  of  the  Scriptures  written  before  the  exile 
is  read  in  our  Synagogues  either  as  a  lesson  or  by  way 
of  devotion.  The  Mosaic  Code  even  commands  the  re- 
cital of  some  set  forms  of  words,  among  them  the  Priestly 
Blessing;  and  Moses  in  his  farewell  address  demands  that 
the  whole  book  should  be  read  to  the  assembled  men, 
women,  and  children  once  in  seven  years.  Conceding,  as 
orthodox  believers  maintain,  that  these  precepts  are  as  old 
as  the  day  of  Moses,  we  know  from  other  parts  of  the  Bible, 
that  for  hundreds  of  years  the  Mosaic  Law  was  forgotten, 
and  not  a  copy  of  it  was  in  common  use. 

The  exiles  in  Babylon  had  no  altar  nor  sacrifice,  hence 
their  strong  religious  feeling  took  form  in  song  and  praise, 
and  in  listening  to  the  words  of  inspired  teachers.  The 
"Sons  of  Asaph,"  who  had  acted  as  the  choir  in  Solomon's 
Temple — some  of  them  as  the  poets  and  composers  for  the 
choir — kept  up  their  identity  while  on  the  banks  of  the 
Euphrates,  and  sang  before  the  new  altar  when  they  came 
back  to  their  old  home. 

There  were  delays  in  the  building  of  the  Temple;  it  was 
not  finished  until  the  sixth  year  of  King  Darius.  Little 
or  nothing  is  known  of  the  religious  life  of  the  colony  be- 
tween the  Festivals  in  that  year  and  the  coming  of  Ezra,  the 
Scribe,  and  of  Nehemiah,  the  governor,  in  the  reign  of  Arta- 
xerxes  Longimanus,  nearly  sixty  years  later.  Here  we  come 
to  a  great  epoch  in  the  life  of  Israel — the  assembly  of  the 
people  on  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month,  when  Ezra 
read  the  Law  of  Moses  to  them  between  sunrise  and  high 
noon.- 

And  herewith  begins  the  first  historic  period  in  which 
the  mode  of  worshipping  God  otherwise  than  by  sacrifice 
was  developed  in  Israel;  it  is  the  age  of  the  men  of  the  Great 
Synod.  As  to  all  details,  this  period,  say  from  the  year  458 


LIFE-CENTER  IN  PALESTINE  21 

to  the  year  201  (the  date  assigned  for  the  death  of  Simeon 
the  Just),  is  a  blank.  The  Book  of  Chronicles,  written  dur- 
ing this  time,  records  the  names  of  some  of  the  High 
Priests;  Josephus  tells  a  few  incidents  of  Alexander's  entry 
into  Jerusalem,  and  how  Palestine  became  an  apple  of  dis- 
cord between  the  Ptolemies  in  Egypt  and  the  successors  of 
Seleucus,  the  "Kings  of  Asia;"  but  of  the  inner  history  of 
the  people,  in  law,  religion,  or  customs,  we  know  nothing 
but  the  results.  Whether  the  Great  Synod  was  a  council 
or  only  a  collective  name  for  many  teachers  and  lawgivers, 
and  how  many  men  were  counted  as  members  of  the  Synod, 
is  unknown.  The  only  names  handed  down  to  posterity  are 
those  of  Ezra,  the  founder,  and  of  Simeon  the  Just,  who  was 
the  last  among  them.3 

The  men  of  the  Great  Synod  gathered  the  national  writ- 
ings; they  decided  what  books  should  and  what  books 
should  not  be  considered  as  sacred.  We  are  informed  in 
the  Talmud  that  they  put  several  of  these  books,  namely 
Ezekiel,  the  twelve  smaller  Prophets,  Daniel,  and  Esther, 
into  shape.4  Although  the  Book  of  Daniel,  many  of  the 
Psalms,  and  probably  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  were  writ- 
ten in  later  times,  it  is  clear  that  with  the  end  of  the  days 
of  the  Great  Synod  the  idea  of  a  collection  of  sacred  books 
— Law,  History,  Prophets,  Songs,  and  Reflections — had 
taken  firm  root  in  the  Jewish  mind. 

But  the  feeling  of  the  necessity  for  an  "oral  law,"  carried 
down  by  honored  teachers  from  generation  to  generation, 
had  also  grown  up.  We  find  a  fully  developed  germ  of  the 
"Oral  Law"  in  the  second  chapter  of  Haggai,  where  the 
prophet  asks  the  priest  questions  in  the  Law.  Where  the 
Pentateuch  laid  down  a  command  in  a  few  words,  in  broad 
outlines,  the  tradition  of  the  fathers  would  fill  in  the 
details.  As  to  the  worship  of  God  by  prayer, praise, or  study, 
the  Mosaic  law  is  almost  silent.  In  this  field  tradition, 
taking  its  root  mainly  in  regulations  by  men  in  authority, 
was  most  needed.  At  the  end  of  the  period  an  outline  of  a 


22         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

daily  service  seems  to  have  been  known  and  in  common 
use  by  the  more  faithful  among  the  people,  as  will  be 
shown  hereafter. 

Three  maxims  of  the  Great  Synod  are  reported:  "Be 
slow  in  judgment"  (showing  that  the  men  composing  it 
were  judges  as  well  as  teachers);  "set  up  many  disciples" 
(evidently  in  interpretation  and  in  traditional  law),  and 
"make  a  fence  around  the  law"  (showing  that  they  assumed 
a  law-making  power  even  beyond  interpretation).  One 
saying  is  ascribed  to  Simeon  the  Just:  "The  world  stands 
on  three  things,  on  the  (study  of  the)  Law,  on  the  Service, 
and  on  Charity."5  The  very  opening  of  the  Mishna  proves 
that  the  Great  Synod  did  not  regulate  worship  by  spoken 
words  until  it  had  first  settled  priestly  usages.0 

The  next  period  after  that  of  the  Great  Synod  may  be 
reckoned  to  the  death  of  Antigonus,  the  last  of  the  Has- 
moneans,  in  his  futile  struggle  against  the  Roman  power, 
about  35  years  before  the  Common  Era.  It  comprises  a  few 
years  of  quiet  and  prosperity  before  Antiochus  sought  to 
force  his  pagan  worship  upon  the  Jews;7  also  the  war  of 
twenty-five  years  which  ended  with  the  full  independence 
of  the  country  under  Simeon,  the  brother  of  the  heroic 
Judas  Maccabeus;  the  reigns  of  the  Hasmonean  princes, 
the  invasion  of  the  Romans  under  Pompey,  and  the  fitful 
struggles  that  followed  till  the  Hasmonean  race,  in  the  male 
line,  was  extinguished.  We  find  in  this  period  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  years  the  names  of  a  few  great  teachers, 
not  more  than  two  in  any  one  generation,  whose  opinions 
are  recorded  in  the  Mishna  as  authority  in  the  Law;  the 
oldest  of  the  line  of  teachers  known  as  Tannaim.8  The 
Bible  took  its  final  shape  during  this  age,  except. that  even 
at  its  close  there  was  still  a  dispute  about  the  right  of  the 
Books  of  Ecclesiastes  and  Canticles  to  a  place  in  the 
Canon.9 

The  first  of  the  bearers  of  the  tradition  in  this  period  is 
"Antigonus,  of  Socho,"  of  whose  views  little  or  nothing  is 


LIFE-CENTER  IN  PALESTINE  23 

known  but  his  motto:  "Be  not  like  servants  who  serve  the 
master  in  order  to  get  their  rations,  but  like  servants  who 
serve  the  master  without  regard  to  their  rations ;  yet  should 
the  fear  of  Heaven  be  before  your  eyes."  Talmudic  story, 
doubted  by  some  modern  writers,  gives  him  two  disciples, 
Zadok  and  Boethos,  who  construed  his  motto  into  a  denial 
of  rewards  in  a  future  life.  The  latter  turned  to  Epi- 
curean philosophy,  the  former  became  the  founder  of  the 
sect  of  Sadducees  (Tscdukiyim),  who  denied  the  resurrec- 
tion, insisted  on  a  literal  construction  of  the  Pentateuch, 
and  rejected  all  traditional  interpretation.  They  carried 
out  "eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,"  by  taking  the  eye  or 
tooth  of  the  offender,  while  to  the  followers  of  tradition 
this  precept  meant  no  more  than  an  award  of  money  dam- 
ages for  the  loss  of  the  member  or  organ. 

The  latter,  the  men  of  the  tradition,  by  their  refinements 
in  criminal  procedure  almost  abolished  the  death  penalty, 
and  showed  how  its  infliction  by  stoning  or  burning  could 
be  rendered  nearly  painless.10  The  Sadducees  were  numer- 
ous only  among  the  wealthy  and  powerful  classes;  the 
learned  men,  whom  the  mass  of  the  people  obeyed,  were  in 
somewhat  later  times  called  Pharisees  (Pcrushim  or  Pcr- 
ishin,  i.  e.,  the  Separated),  while  among  themselves  they 
took  the  name  of  Companions  (Habcrim).  But  both  of  these 
names  were  coined  to  distinguish  them,  not  so  much  from 
the  Sadducees,  as  from  the  unlearned  and  indifferent  mass, 
the  "people  of  the  land"  (Am  ha-arets). 

As  all  subsequent  religious  life  and  learning  were  drawn 
from  Pharisaic  sources,  the  leading  tendencies  of  their 
school  must  be  briefly  stated.  They  believed  in  an  aristoc- 
racy of  learning,  that  is,  of  course,  learning  in  the  Law. 
Hence  the  rule  in  the  Mishna,  that  though  the  High  Priest 
must  be  of  the  noblest  blood  and  purest  descent,  yet  if  he 
be  "of  the  people  of  the  land,"  i.  e.,  unlearned,  he  is  of  less 
account  than  a  bastard  who  is  a  "disciple  of  the  wise"  (a 
man  of  Rabbinic  learning).11  In  their  ideal  polity  the  San- 


24         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

hedrin,  made  up  of  learned  judges,  was  the  supreme  ruling 
body;  the  King-  or  High  Priest  must  act  only  under  its 
advice.12  Though  they  scrupulously  gave  tithe  of  their  pro- 
duce to  the  priests,  yet  they  thought  that  every  man  should 
be  priest  in  his  own  house,  and  every  dining-table  his  altar; 
hence  their  rule  to  wash  the  hands  before  each  meal  and  to 
put  salt  upon  the  morsel  first  eaten.13  The  written  law 
hardly  knows  of  any  other  mode  of  worship  but  that  of  the 
altar,  and  though  this  was  accompanied  by  beautiful  hymns 
and  prayers  composed  for  that  very  purpose,  it  could  not 
satisfy  the  hearts  of  the  vast  majority  of  Israel,  who  seldom 
or  never  entered  the  court-yards.  The  Sadducees,  tying 
themselves  to  the  letter  of  the  Mosaic  Code,  could  hardly 
busy  themselves  with  composing  prayers  for  the  Syna- 
gogue, as,  in  the  language  of  the  Sages,  the  obligation  to 
pray  at  all  "floats  in  the  air,"  i.  e.,  has  little  or  no  sup- 
port in  the  Scriptures.  But  for  the  greater  freedom  with 
which  the  Pharisees  handled  the  Law,  the  religion  of  Israel 
must  have  come  to  an  end  with  the  permanent  destruction 
of  the  Temple.  They  had  the  courage  to  add  to  the  two 
hundred  and  forty-eight  positive  commands  found  in  the 
Pentateuch  their  own  further  commands,  to  read  Bible 
lessons  in  the  Synagogue  at  stated  times,  to  sing  Psalms  of 
praise  on  the  Festivals  and  on  the  Feast  of  the  Maccabees, 
to  say  prayers  three  times  a  day,  to  bless  God  not  only  after, 
but  also  before  meals;  indeed,  they  went  so  far  as  to  draw 
up  benedictions  according  to  which  God  has  "commanded 
us  to  read  the  scroll"  (the  Book  of  Esther),  or  "to  read  the 
Praise"  (Psalms  H3-H8).1* 

The  Sadducees  of  earlier  days  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  unpatriotic  or  Hellenizing  Jews  who  sided  with 
Antiochus,  and  were  by  the  Hasidim  (the  pious), or  Patriots, 
denounced  in  the  later  Psalms  and  in  early  parts  of  the 
Prayer  Book  under  the  name  of  the  Wicked,  or  Deserters 
of  the  Covenant.  In  fact,  the  Sadducees  became  im- 
portant and  powerful  only  in  the  reign  of  the  Hasmonean 


LIFE-CENTER  IN  PALESTINE  25 

Priest-Kings,  John  Hyrcanus  and  Alexander  Jannaeus, 
who  were  driven  into  their  arms  by  the  sharp  opposition 
of  the  great  popular  party,  led,  during  the  reign  of  the  lat- 
ter, by  Simeon  ben  Shetah,  his  brother-in-law,  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  Sanhedrin.  The  uSages"  were  cruelly  per- 
secuted, and  though,  after  the  King's  death,  his  widow  and 
successor,  Queen  Salome,  restored  the  Pharisees  to  power, 
the  feeling  between  the  two  sects  remained  very  bitter,  and 
the  Sadducees  drifted  away  so  far  from  patriotism  that  in 
Roman  times  they  were  generally  preferred  by  the  foreign 
oppressor  for  the  positions  of  High  Priests  and  Judges. 

We  come  now  to  the  second  period  of  the  Tannaim  and 
the  last  period  of  the  Temple  service.  Antipater  for  a  few 
years  and  after  him  his  son,  Herod,  Idumeans  by  de- 
scent, but  Jews  by  religious  profession,  were  kings  by 
the  support  of  the  Roman  arms  and  in  spite  of  the  pro- 
test of  all  patriots,  who  looked  upon  them  not  as  kings 
of  Israel,  within  the  meaning  of  the  Scripture,  but  as  tools 
of  a  hated  conqueror.  There  was  no  hope  of  getting  rid  of 
the  foreign  yoke  by  the  unaided  bravery  of  the  nation,  not 
even  by  such  bravery  as  the  highest  religious  fervor  could 
inspire,  such  as  gave  to  the  Hasmoneans  victory  over  the 
Syrian  armies.  Nothing  would  suffice  but  a  deliverance 
by  signs  and  wonders,  like  God's  battling  in  behalf  of  His 
people  when  He  brought  them  out  from  under  the  burdens 
of  Egypt.  Herod  sought  in  vain  to  offset  his  cruelties  against 
the  people  and  their  learned  leaders  by  an  ostentatious 
observance  of  the  ceremonial  law  and  by  building  a  Temple 
greater  and  fairer  than  that  of  Solomon;  still  he  was  to  the 
patriots  nothing  more  than  an  enemy  whom  God  had  per- 
mitted to  rule  over  them,  to  punish  them  for  their  sins. 
And  times  got  worse  and  worse;  the  Jewish  courts,  under 
the  advice  of  the  Sanhedrin,  refused  to  try  capital  cases; 
the  land  was  overrun  with  robbers  and  guerrillas  in  the 
guise  of  patriots;15  and  thus  things  went  on  for  many  years, 
except  during  the  short  interval  when  Agrippa,  Herod's 


26         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

grandson,  by  the  favor  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  reigned 
as  King  of  the  Jews,  acknowledged  and  beloved  as  such  by 
the  Sages.16  It  was  natural  that  in  these  times  the  mind  of  the 
people  should  turn  to  the  Messianic  prophecies  in  Isaiah, 
in  Micah,  in  Zechariah,  should  connect  them  with  the  pre- 
dictions of  God's  conciliation  with  Israel  in  Deuteronomy 
and  with  the  promises  of  universal  peace  and  well-being  and 
true  belief  which  are  scattered  through  the  Prophets  and 
Psalms.17  Hence  in  this  age  the  hope  for  the  speedy  com- 
ing of  a  Messiah  (Mashiah,  i.  e.,  Anointed),  a  King  of 
Israel  from  the  seed  of  David,  took  strong  hold  of  the 
people.  The  critical  remark  of  a  scholar  that  the  Israelites 
"have  already  consumed  their  Messiah,"  meaning  that  in 
King  Hezekiah  the  most  striking  prophecies  had  been 
fulfilled,  could  not  change  the  popular  faith.18  Only  in  this 
age,  during  the  first  fervor  of  Messianic  hopes,  and  while 
claimants  to  the  Messiah's  office  fought  bravely  against 
the  Romans,19  could  Christianity  arise;  a  religious  belief 
in  which  the  personality  of  a  man,  claiming  to  be  the  prom- 
ised Messiah,  fills  the  chief  place. 

As  the  hope  of  a  coming  Redeemer  and  the  wish  for  his 
speedily  coming  and  ushering  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
on  earth  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  Prayer  Book,  we 
must  for  that  reason  alone  distinguish  the  last  one  hundred 
and  five  years  of  the  Temple  from  the  preceding  ages.  But 
there  is  another  change;  the  Jews  are  no  longer  a  Common- 
wealth; they  are  only  a  Church;  not  only  in  their  own  eyes, 
but  in  those  of  the  heathen.  Their  minds  are  turned  from 
politics  to  the  study  and  practice  of  their  religious  law  more 
than  ever  before.  The  schools  of  Hillel  and  Shammaii 
gather  many  hundreds  of  pupils,  who  in  their  turn  become 
teachers  for  another  generation.  The  Patriarchate,  stripped 
of  its  political  power,  becomes  hereditary,  with  few  breaks, 
with  the  descendants  of  Hillel,  who  for  four  centuries 
remained  faithful  to  the  cause.  While  only  a  few  sayings 
of  the  older  Sages  are  recorded,  the  disputes  between  the 


LIFE-CENTER  IN  PALESTINE  27 

schools  of  Hillel  and  Shammai  cover  hundreds  of  points, 
sometimes  weighty,  as  in  the  matter  of  divorce,  oftener  on 
unimportant  ceremonial  questions.20  For  those  who  lived 
at  a  distance  from  Palestine,  took  no  part  in  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Temple,  and  were  not  bound  by  the  laws  of 
tithing  and  tribute  and  first-fruits,  etc.,  applicable  to  the 
Holy  Land  alone,  orthodox  Judaism  took  pretty  much  the 
shape  then  which  it  had  within  living  memory  and  which 
it  still  has  in  the  East. 

A  grandson  of  Hillel  was  Rabban  Gamaliel,  so  well 
known  to  the  Gentile  world  as  the  teacher  of  Paul  of  Tarsus, 
and  it  seems  that  he  was  the  last  President  of  the  Sanhedrin 
while  it  sat  at  Jerusalem. 

Among  the  other  great  names  of  this  century  are  Jona- 
than ben  Uzziel,  the  expounder  and  translator  of  the  pro- 
phetic books;  Rabbi  Ishmael,  one  of  the  latest  of  the  High 
Priests;  and  Rabban  Johanan  ben  Zaccai,  who  survived 
the  tragic  end  of  Jerusalem,  and  became  the  founder  of 
the  new  Judaism. 

In  the  period  just  considered  a  sharp  difference  was 
developed  between  the  "Haberim,"  or  companions,  or  "dis- 
ciples of  the  wise,"  in  short,  the  Pharisees,  and  the  common 
people  (Am  ha-arctz).  Of  this  the  Synoptic  Gospels  bear 
abundant  witness.  The  dislike  was  mutual.  Rabbi  Akiba, 
who  died  as  a  very  old  man  and  as  the  most  esteemed  Rabbi 
of  his  age  in  the  next  following  period,  had  in  his  younger 
days  been  one  of  the  "people  of  the  land,"  and  he  acknowl- 
edges that  while  he  was  such  he  felt,  at  the  sight  of  a  "dis- 
ciple of  the  wise,"  the  desire  to  "tear  him  to  pieces  like  a 
fish."21  Many  differences  between  the  "companions"  and 
the  "people"  are  found  both  in  the  Gospels  and  in  the  Tal- 
mud. The  most  striking  is  the  unbending  custom  of  the 
former  to  wash  their  hands  before  partaking  of  bread; 
another,  their  distrust  of  the  latter  as  to  regularly  tithing 
their  corn,  oil,  and  wine;  for  both  of  which  reasons  the 
former  were  unwilling  to  eat  "with  publicans  and  sin- 


2g        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ners."22  The  great  practical  difference  was  that  between 
learning  and  ignorance.  As  the  religious  law  embraced  not 
only  ceremony  and  dogma  but  the  moral  duties  of  man  to 
man  and  the  mutual  rights  of  men  and  of  women  in  all  ques- 
tions of  contract,  of  tort,  of  inheritance,  of  marriage  and 
divorce,  and  of  criminal  procedure,  and  as  in  those  days 
there  were  very  few  branches  of  knowledge  outside  of  law 
and  religion  to  which  studious  minds  could  turn,  it  came 
naturally  that  the  Pharisees,  notwithstanding  their  aversion 
to  Greek  philosophy  and  heathen  influences,  were  much 
more  enlightened  than  the  "people  of  the  land."  The  latter 
wanted  an  emotional  religion  in  which  good  and  evil  spirits, 
especially  the  latter,  played  a  prominent  part.  They  were 
fond  of  miracle  workers,  while  the  learned  Rabbis,  from  the 
clays  of  Joshua  ben  Sira  (Jesus  Sirach)  down,  looked  upon 
medicine  as  a  science.-3  The  "people"  were  in  constant 
fear  of  hell  and  its  torments,  while  the  learned  of  the  age 
referred  to  Ge-Hinnom  seldom  and  then  only  by  the  use  of 
popular  sayings.  Enlightenment  remained  in  the  lead  as 
long  as  Jewish  life  centered  in  the  Holy  Land. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  Rabban  Johanan 
ben  Zacca'i  obtained  leave  from  Vespasianus  to  establish  a 
school  of  the  Law  at  Jamnia,24  and  there  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  present  Synagogue,  which  has  no  need  for  altar 
or  offerings.  But  the  people  continued  to  long  for  the  old 
service;  they  had  been  told  that  the  blood  of  sacrifice  was 
indispensable  to  the  atonement  of  sin;  there  could  be  no 
sacrifice  but  on  the  Holy  Mountain,  and  access  to  that  was 
denied  by  the  stern  Roman.  I7or  all  national  holidays,  all 
great  rejoicings,  Jerusalem  had  been  the  scene.  "Who  has 
not  seen  the  gladness  of  the  water-drawing  house,  has  never 
see"n  gladness  in  all  his  days,"  was  the  sad  plaint  of  the  sur- 
vivors to  the  younger  generation.  We  thus  find  a  new  ele- 
ment naturally  introduced  into  the  order  of  prayers:  Build 
thy  Temple  again,  which  has  been  destroyed  through  our 
own  sins,  and  restore  its  service!  The  desire  for  a  speedy 


LIFE-CENTER  IN  PALESTINE  29 

coming  of  the  Messiah  became  stronger,  and  was  inter- 
twined with  the  hopes  for  the  recovery  of  Jerusalem  and 
the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple. 

Fifty  years  after  its  destruction  by  Titus,  the  Jews  in 
northern  Palestine  had  so  increased  in  numbers  and  pros- 
perity that  they  felt  strong  enough  to  essay  a  new  rebellion 
against  the  Roman  Colossus.  Its  military  leader,  Simeon 
bar  Cochba  (son  of  the  star),  announced  himself  as  the 
promised  Messiah,  and  it  found  spiritual  support  from  R. 
Akiba,  the  most  learned  and  pious  Sage  of  his  time,  who 
accepted  Bar  Cochba's  claims  only  when,  after  a  learned 
and  labored  research,  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  could  be  a  restoration  without  the  previous  re-appear- 
ance of  the  lost  tribes.25  The  rebellion  or  series  of  rebel- 
lions was  not  finally  put  down  for  twelve  or  thirteen  years. 
The  forces  under  Bar  Cochba  finally  stood  a  siege  in  the 
mountain  fortress  of  Bethar;  they  were,  of  course,  over- 
come; five  hundred  thousand  men,  women,  and  children 
lost  their  lives;  R.  Akiba  and  many  of  his  colleagues  died  as 
martyrs;  thousands  of  the  survivors  were  deported  to  the 
shores  of  the  Rhine;  Northern  Palestine  for  twenty  years 
became  a  waste,  as  the  South  Country  had  been  before. 
Yet  the  cruel  lesson  left  the  hopes  for  the  coming  Messiah 
as  deep-seated  as  before.26  The  school  and  Sanhedrin  at 
Jamnia  were  now  broken  up;  it  took  many  years  before  the 
torn  threads  were  gathered  up  and  a  new  school  and  new 
Sanhedrin  were  established  at  Usha,  further  north.  Under 
Simeon  ben  Gamaliel,  of  the  old  line  of  Patriarchs,  the 
school  soon  attained  high  standing,  and  drew  to  itself  great 
numbers  of  eager  learners.  The  Sanhedrin  again  fixed  the 
New  Moon  and  Feasts  for  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion;  this 
being  the  badge  of  supreme  authority.  It  attained  its  high- 
est splendor  with  Rabbi  Judah  the  Saint,  a  man  noted  for 
his  great  learning,  the  purity  of  his  life,  for  his  wealth,  and 
for  the  favor  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  Romans.27  Two 
generations  before  him  R.  Me'ir  had  made  an  attempt  to 


30        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

codify  the  tradition,  or  Mishna  (perhaps  R.  Akiba  before 
him) ;  this  was  probably  only  by  word  of  mouth,  or  in  a  pri- 
vately-kept manuscript,  in  short  aphorisms  which  the  disci- 
ples might  learn  by  heart;  for  it  was  still  deemed  dangerous 
to  write  down  the  oral  law  and  thus  put  it  on  a  level  with 
the  Mosaic  Code.28  With  these  older  works  before  him, 
Rabbi  Judah  undertook  to  collect  the  substance  of  all  the 
Pharisaic  learning  down  to  his  own  time. 

The  product  is  the  Mishna,  with  its  sixty-three  treatises, 
which,  in  turn,  are  subdivided  into  chapters  and  sections, 
all  arranged  in  six  "orders."29  This  became  henceforth 
the  basis  of  all  discussion,  and  thus  a  broad  line  was 
drawn  between  the  old  Sages,  whose  opinions  were  here 
recorded,  and  their  successors  in  later  ages.  But  much 
of  the  old  lore  remained  outside  of  the  compilation,  and  is 
known  as  Bara'itha  (the  outside).  This  has  been  preserved 
either  in  certain  commentaries  on  the  second,  third,  fourth, 
and  fifth  books  of  Moses  and  in  additions  to  the  Mishna, 
written  bv  Rabbi  Judah's  disciples,30  or  by  quotations  in 
the  Gemara,  of  which  hereafter. 

The  Mishna  treats  in  full  detail  of  King  and  of  High 
Priest,  of  capital  crimes  and  punishments,  of  the  Temple  and 
of  sacrifice/11  not  for  historic  information,  but  for  the  day 
when  Israel,  free  from  foreign  yoke,  will  again  live  under 
its  own  King  and  High  Priest  and  its  own  laws,  and  bring 
grateful  offerings  on  Mount  Zion.  One  passage  sets  forth 
the  signs  which  will  indicate  the  speedy  coming  of  the  Mes- 
siah ;  but  this  is  generally  thought  to  be  a  later  addition  to 
the  Mishna  as  first  compiled. 

In  the  disapproval  of  superstitions  the  later  Tannaim  are 
even  more  decided  than  their  predecessors;  probably  by 
way  of  reaction  against  the  miracles  and  exorcising  of  the 
Jewish  Christians.  R.  Akiba  reckons  among  those  "who 
have  no  share  in  the  world  to  come,"  him  "who  whis- 
pers over  a  sore,"  that  is,  who  pretends  to  cure  it  by  incan- 
tation or  by  casting  out  devils/52  The  same  sober  and 


LIFE-CENTER  IN  PALESTINE  31 

enlightened  tone  is  not  always  found  in  the  Baraitha  as  in 
the  Mishna;  perhaps  because  superstitious  sayings  were 
rejected  by  the  great  compiler  of  that  Code;  more  probably 
because  those  who  in  the  Gemara  claimed  to  quote  ancient 
sayings  from  hearsay  after  hearsay,  projected  their  own 
superstitions  into  an  earlier  and  more  enlightened  age.33 

The  moral  standard  of  the  Mishna  for  the  daily  inter- 
course between  man  and  man  is  very  high.  After  the  legal 
requisites  to  make  a  binding  contract  of  sale  are  minutely 
set  forth,  the  vengeance  of  God  is  invoked  upon  him  who 
takes  advantage  of  these  rules  to  break  his  plighted  word. 
To  hurt  a  man's  feelings  by  reminding  him  of  his  weak- 
nesses is  deemed  as  wrong  as  to  cheat  him  in  trade;  to 
"blanch  a  man's  face  in  public"  is  one  of  the  unpardonable 
sins.  One  of  the  old  heroes  refuses  the  Patriarchate  be- 
cause to  gain  it  he  would  have  to  yield  to  the  majority 
his  opinions  on  a  few  trifling  points  of  ceremonial  law;  he 
answers,  "I  would  rather  be  thought  a  fool  all  my  life  than 
be  wicked  for  even  one  hour."34 

The  language  of  the  Mishna  is  Hebrew  of  the  Galilean 
dialect  in  its  decay,  with  some  Aramaic  and  some  Baby- 
lonian forms,  and  mixed  with  many  Aramaic  and  Greek 
and  a  few  Babylonian  and  Latin  words,  but  it  is  still 
Hebrew.35 

Some  noted  Rabbis  of  this  period  will  be  spoken  of  here- 
after as  identified  with  some  one  or  other  tendency  or  insti- 
tution. 

During  all  these  ages  in  which  "the  law  went  forth,"  if 
not  from  Jerusalem,  at  least  from  Palestine,  many  Jews,  and 
towards  the  last  a  majority  of  them,  lived  outside  of  the 
sacred  borders.  In  Babylonia  and  Mesopotamia  descend- 
ants of  those  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  had  carried  there  lived, 
multiplied,  and  prospered;  Hillel  himself  was  born  there, 
but  became  a  leader  of  thought  only  after  coming  to  Jeru- 
salem. We  also  hear  in  the  Mishna  often  about  the  Jews 
settled  in  Syria,  right  north  of  the  border,  and  in  Cappa- 


32        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

docia.  All  these  adhered  closely  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Pharisaic  Rabbis.  Then  there  were  vast  numbers  at  Alex- 
andria and  in  other  cities  of  Lower  Egypt,  who  carried  on 
their  worship  and  studies  mainly  by  the  aid  of  Greek  trans- 
lations, and  who  were,  in  a  measure,  allowed  to  go  their 
own  way.  Among  them  Philo,  a  contemporary  of  Paul 
of  Tarsus,  is  most  noted.  Among  books  which  have  come 
down  to  our  time,  his  works  are  the  first  to  exhibit  Hebrew 
faith  blended  with  Pythagorean  and  Platonic  and  perhaps 
with  Hindoo  speculations.  Of  this  hereafter.  There  were 
also  Greek-speaking  Jews  in  great  numbers  in  Cyrenaica, 
the  present  Tripoli,  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  their 
brethren  at  the  old  home.  Many  of  them  fought  under  Bar 
Cochba  in  the  last  war  for  Israel's  independence.  There 
were  Synagogues  in  Rome  even  in  the  days  of  Caesar,  and 
they  have  been  there  ever  since.  Horace  and  other  Latin 
writers  speak  of  the  wide  spread  of  Jewish  beliefs  and  of 
Sabbath  observance.36  The  New  Testament  bears  witness 
to  the  diffusion  of  Jews  through  Greece  and  its  colonies; 
Josephus,  to  the  conversion  of  the  King  and  many  of  the 
citizens  of  Adiabene,  or  "Little  Media."37  But,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Alexandrians,  all  took  their  law  as  it  came 
to  them  from  Jerusalem,  Jamnia,  and  the  seats  of  the  Patri- 
archs at  Usha  and  Beth  Shearim  in  Galilee. 

Besides  the  divisions  of  the  Jewish  body  named  above, 
there  were,  according  to  the  Mishna,  both  before  and  after 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  sectaries,  hated  and  consid- 
ered as  dangerous,  known  as  Minim.™  What  the  origin 
and  what  the  tenets  or  distinguishing  marks  of  these  sec- 
taries were,  whether  in  fact  one  or  several  bodies  of  dis- 
senters were  thus  designated,  is  uncertain.  It  is  possible 
that  Jewish  Christians  are  generally  meant,  but  some  pass- 
ages forbid  this  assumption.39 


CHAPTER  III 

HISTORIC  BACKGROUND CENTER  NO  LONGER  IN 

PALESTINE 

IN  about  220  the  Patriarchate  was  moved  to  Tiberias  on 
the  Syrian  border,  where  it  remained  till  it  disappeared  two 
hundred  years  later.  But  no  great  men  arose  like  Johanan 
ben  Zacca'i  or  R.  Akiba  or  Rabban  Gamaliel.  Tiberias  could 
not  rule  the  dispersion;  the  leadership  of  Israel  fled  to 
schools  planted  on  the  Euphrates  among  the  descendants 
of  those  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  had  carried  from  Judea. 
Of  the  later  teachers  at  Tiberias  only  three  need  be  named, 
R.  Hiya,  the  foremost  pupil  of  Judah  the  Saint;  R.  Simlai, 
who  counted  the  613  (365  positive  and  248  negative)  pre- 
cepts of  the  Tora,  and  showed  how  Prophets  and  Psalmists 
had  reduced  them  to  their  kernel  in  eleven  principles  or 
even  one,  and,  lastly,  the  Patriarch,  Hillel  the  Younger, 
who,  yielding  to  the  growing  enmity  of  the  Christian  em- 
perors in  about  360,  gave  up  the  old  badge  of  Palestine's 
supremacy,  the  proclamation  of  New  Moons  and  New 
Years,  and  adopted  the  Athenian  calendar,  modified  for  Jew- 
ish purposes,  as  will  be  shown  in  another  chapter.  To  these 
might  be  added  Resh  Lakish  and  Joshua  ben  Levi,  masters' 
of  legend  in  their  own  time  and  its  heroes  in  following 
generations.1 

The  discussions  of  the  Sages  of  Tiberias  upon  the  Mishna 
have  been  collected  into  the  so-called  Jerusalem  Talmud, 
but  by  reason  of  the  low  esteem  in  which  they  were  held 
by  the  Jews  of  other  countries,  great  parts  thereof  have  been 
lost,  and  other  parts  preserved  only  in  single,  often  quite 
imperfect  and  incorrect  copies.  The  treatises  on  civil  law 
3  (33) 


34         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

are  treated  least  fully,  and  in  these  discussions,  as  far 
as  they  have  reached  us,  very  few  new  forms  of  prayer  are 
found;  but  they  contain  much  important  information  not 
found  elsewhere  on  the  growth  of  the  liturgy. 

About  the  life  of  the  Jews  in  Babylonia  down  to  the  re- 
vival of  the  Persian  Kingdom  by  Ardeshir,  son  of  Sassan, 
in  the  year  227,  nothing  is  known.  But  at  this  time,  when 
by  the  decay  of  Palestine  the  men  of  the  East  came  to  the 
foreground,  history  dawns  upon  them.  We  find  the  institu- 
tion of  a  hereditary  Chief  of  the  Exile  (Resh  Gelutha),  to 
whom  the  former  Parthian,  and  now  the  Neo-Persian,  Kings 
allowed  very  large  governing  powers  over  the  Jewish  popu- 
lation, which  appears  to  have  lived  in  compact  settlements 
and  to  have  consisted  mainly  of  industrious,  well-to-do, 
contented  farmers.  It  was  afterwards  contended  that  these 
Chiefs  had  had  a  continued  succession  from  the  days  of 
Zerubbabel,  and  were  through  him  descended  from  King 
David;  but  this  is  hardly  more  than  a  myth.  The  Chief  of 
the  Exile,  often  himself  a  man  of  Rabbinical  learning, 
appointed  the  chiefs  of  the  colleges,  which  took  rise  abom 
the  year  last  mentioned.2 

The  subject  to  be  taught  in  these  schools  was  the  whole 
mass  of  traditions  and  a  world  of  thought  and  of  method 
which  had  grown  up  in  the  course  of  at  least  four  hundred 
years.  Naturally,  therefore,  the  first  two  teachers  of  the 
East  had  studied  in  the  West;  they  were  Abba  Areka,  after- 
wards known  as  "Rab,"  and  Samuel,  a  man  possessed  of 
all  the  learning  of  his  time,  including  medicine  and 
astronomy.  The  former  became  head  of  the  school  at 
Sura,  the  latter  at  Nehardea,  and  as  such  they  formed  the 
first  of  the  Babylonian  "couples,"  whose  opinions  the 
Talmud  habitually  gives  side  by  side.  These  two  men, 
especially  the  former,  did  much  towards  bringing  the  order 
of  prayers  into  the  fixed  form  which  it  has  at  the  present 
day.  Both  died  before  the  middle  of  the  third  century.3 

The  discussions  of  the  Eastern  schools  or  colleges  (Methi- 


CENTER  NO  LONGER  IN  PALESTINE 


35 


batha)  are  very  full  on  the  laws  of  Mine  and  Thine,  on  the 
observance  of  Sabbath  and  Festivals,  and  on  the  service  of 
the  Synagogue,  but  leave  untouched  parts  of  the  Mishna 
dealing  with  tithes  and  other  burdens  on  the  farm  (as 
these  applied  to  the  Holy  Land  only)  and  those  which  deal 
with  Levitical  cleanness.  The  teachers  who  appear  either 
at  Tiberias  or  in  the  East,  and  whose  discussions  are  based 
on  the  Mishna,  are  known  by  the  general  designation  of 
Emoraim,  as  distinguished  from  the  Tanna'im  that  pre- 
ceded them;  and  their  discussions  are  known  as  "Gemara," 
that  is,  completion.  The  Jerusalem  Talmud  seems  to  have 
been  completed  in  the  second  half  of  the  fourth  century; 
the  Babylonian  Talmud  (which  records  many  of  the  best 
sayings  of  the  later  Palestinian  teachers)  was  not  closed 
till  about  the  year  480,  and  in  its  present  form  contains  a 
few  somewhat  later  additions.  The  sudden  outbreak  of  a 
persecuting  spirit  in  the  Persian  government,  which  dis- 
persed teachers  and  scholars,  may  have  been  a  determining 
cause  for  reducing  into  a  written  collection,  and  thus  pre- 
serving for  the  Jews  elsewhere  and  for  later  generations, 
the  best  results  of  what  had  been  said  and  done  in  the 
schools,  now  of  Sura  (or  Mahasia)  and  Pumbeditha  (which 
succeeded  Nehardea),  during  the  lapse  of  almost  three 
hundred  years.  In  this  collection,  known  as  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  is  preserved,  forming  its  most  valuable  part,  much 
of  the  Baraitha,  that  is,  the  sayings  of  the  olden  ante- 
Mishna  times,  which  are  quoted  therein  from  recollection 
and  tradition,  often  to  exhibit  their  conflict  with  the  official 
body  of  the  Mishna;  and  though  not  so  reliable  as  the  latter, 
yet  needed  as  material  for  the  history  of  Jewish  institutions, 
such  as  the  services  of  the  Synagogue.  The  best  sayings 
of  the  Palestinian  teachers  (such  as  those  named  in  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter)  are  also  found  in  the  Babylonian 
Talmud.  The  chain  of  tradition  is  carried  down  to  five 
sets  of  disciples,  who  became  in  turn  the  leading  teachers 
of  their  day,  as  Rab  and  Samuel  had  been  in  their  day;  the 


36         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

fifth  and  last  of  these,  R.  Ashe  and  Rabina,  are  called  the 
"end  of  authority,"  and  they  made  the  first  attempt  to  write 
down  the  Babylonian  Talmud.4 

After  Rab  and  Samuel  all  touch  of  the  Eastern  schools 
with  Hellenic  learning  was  lost.  Thus,  where  the  Mishna 
declares  that  an  "Epikuros"  has  no  share  in  the  future 
world,  the  Babylonian  doctors,  commenting  thereon,  have 
no  idea  that  this  is  the  name  of  a  Greek  philosopher;  nor 
do  they  know  the  bearings  of  his  system,  and  they  try  to 
derive  the  word  from  a  Hebrew  or  Aramaic  root.  They 
often  disclaim  all  knowledge  of  geography  or  of  astronomy,5 
though  Samuel  still  claimed  that  the  paths  of  the  starry  sky 
were  as  familiar  to  him  as  the  streets  of  Nehardea,6  and  the 
.opinions  of  the  Talmud  on  all  branches  of  science,  on  lan- 
guage, and  on  history  are  in  most  cases  crude  and  unschol- 
arly.  But  in  the  face  of  much  ignorance  and  of  not  a  little 
superstitious  ghost-lore,  the  freedom  with  which  opinion 
was  expressed  in  discussion  would  do  honor  to  later  and 
more  enlightened  ages.  Thus,  in  a  discussion  about  the  ex- 
pected coming  of  the  Messiah,  we  find  one  Rabbi  (Giddol), 
whose  authority  is  often  quoted  as  good  law,  making  sport 
(as  it  seems  to  the  writer)  of  all  Messianic  hopes,  while 
another  (Hillel),  like  our  higher  critics,  says:  Israel  has 
already  "eaten"  its  Messiah  in  King  Hezekiah.  For  this 
view  he  is  not  excommunicated,  but  only  confronted  with 
the  words  of  a  prophet  who  lived  after  that  King:  "Rejoice 
greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion,  etc.:  behold,  thy  King  cometh" 
(Zech.  9:  9).7  The  high  moral  standard  set  by  the  Sages  of 
the  Mishna  is  fully  maintained;  the  law  of  Mine  and  Thine 
is  worked  out  in  a  righteous  spirit  and  with  wonderful 
acuteness;  woman  is  cherished  and  honored.  Abhorrence  is 
expressed  for  him  who  divorces  a  wife  that  is  the  mother  of 
his  children.  Raba,  chief  of  the  school  at  Mahusa,  tells  his 
towns-people:  ''Do  honor  to  your  wives;  only  thus  can  you 
prosper."  And  whatever  wild  fancies  the  Babylonians  may 
have  entertained  about  angels  and  devils,  hell  and  paradise, 


CENTER  NO  LONGER  IN  PALESTINE  37 

they  never  gave  expression  to  them  in  the  benedictions  and 
devotions  which  they  drew  up  and  recommended  to  their 
people.8 

The  Talmud  often  speaks  of  the  old  divisions  between 
Pharisee  and  Sadducee,  between  "companions"  and  "people 
of  the  land;"  but,  when  we  scan  it  attentively,  we  see 
that  this  is  altogether  "ancient  history."  There  was  no 
organized  body  of  Sadducees  on  the  Euphrates;  if  men  in 
power  at  times  acted  on  Sadducean  principles,  it  was  from 
ignorance  or  inborn  cruelty.9  The  laws  of  Levitical  purity 
and  of  tithes,  by  the  careful  observance  of  which  the  "com- 
panions" had  mainly  distinguished  themselves  from  the 
"people,"  had  fallen  into  disuse,  or  never  were  applicable 
"outside  of  the  land."  Occasionally  we  hear  of  the  mass 
of  Babylonian  Jews  becoming  weary  of  Rabbinical  hair- 
splitting;10 but,  upon  the  whole,  they  followed  the  leader- 
ship of  the  learned,  and  attended  in  great  crowds  the  half- 
yearly  meetings  in  the  month  before  the  Passover  and  in 
that  before  the  autumnal  feasts,  to  listen  to  the  popular 
teachings  of  the  Heads  of  Assembly  (Reshe  Calla).11  Nor 
were  they  disturbed  by  the  Christian  heresy;  it  is  said, 
"There  are  no  Minim  at  Nehardea."12 

Both  the  Talmuds  are  written  in  Aramaic  dialects;  the 
Palestinian  in  one  nearly  allied  to  that  of  the  Christians  of 
Antioch  and  Edessa;  the  Babylonian  in  one  which  seems 
to  be  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  Biblical  Aramaic,  found 
in  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Daniel.13  It  is  necessarily  much 
mixed  with  Hebrew,  the  former  also  greatly  with  Greek 
and  Latin,  the  latter  slightly  with  Persian.  The  quotations 
of  Mishna  and  Baraitha  and  Scripture  maintain,  of  course, 
their  original  garb. 

So  much  had  to  be  said  about  the  Talmud,  because  it,  and 
particularly  the  part  elaborated  on  the  banks  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, was  for  almost  fourteen  hundred  years  the '  chief 
mental  food  of  the  Jewish  nation. 

Wholly  independent  of  the  Babylonian  schools,  and  long 


38         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

after  the  authoritative  teaching  of  the  Oral  Law  had  ceased 
at  Tiberias  and  Csesarea,  a  band  of  men  in  Northern  Galilee, 
whose  names  and  exact  era  have  been  utterly  lost  and  for- 
gotten, performed  a  great  service  not  for  their  race  only, 
but  for  men  of  all  races  and  creeds  who  seek  to  understand 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  They  contrived  a  system  of  vowel 
signs  and  other  diacritic  marks  (such  as  the  Dagesh  for 
doubling  consonants  or  for  taking  away  the  aspiration 
from  some  of  them),  and  they  applied  these  signs  and 
marks  with  great  consistency  to  the  text  of  the  twenty-four 
books.  Their  system,  as  the  names  of  some  of  the  vowels 
show,  was  borrowed  from  that  of  the  Syrians,  which  in 
turn  was  due  in  part  to  Greek  influences.  For  a  language 
no  longer  spoken,  in  which  the  change  of  vowels  is  so  fre- 
quent and  means  so  much,  this  help  to  the  learner  had 
become  almost  indispensable.  It  seems  that  the  system 
took  shape  in  about  the  year  6oo.14  During  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries  the  Babylonian  schools  did  but  little  to 
affect  the  current  of  Jewish  life.  However,  in  this  time 
efforts  were  made  in  the  Tosifta  (Addition)  to  collect  and 
to  write  down  at  the  end  of  each  treatise  of  the  Mishna  such 
of  the  old  traditions  on  the  Law  as  were  not  elsewhere  to 
be  readily  found.  The  Treatise  of  Scribes  (Soferim)  as  to 
the  preparation  of  scrolls  of  the  Law  and  of  phylacteries  and 
about  their  use  in  the  services,  and  the  Treatise  on  Joys 
(Semahotfi),  so  called  by  euphemy,  which  treats  of  the  rules 
of  Mourning,  were  also  elaborated  in  this  period,  or  not 
much  later.15  The  men  in  authority  were  known  as 
Scburaim,  "opinion  givers." 

In  the  eighth  century,  under  the  powerful  and  benign 
government  of  the  Khalifs  of  Bagdad,  the  schools  at  Sura  (or 
Mahasia)  and  Pumbeditha  again  rose  in  importance.  The 
head  of  the  former  took  the  title  of  Gaon  (excellency),  in  imi- 
tation of  that  of  Illustrissimus,  which  the  Patriarchs  at 
Tiberias  had  enjoyed  under  Diocletian  and  his  successors. 
The  Gaon  was  a  sort  of  Grand  Rabbi  for  all  the  Jews  of  the 


CENTER  NO  LONGER  IN  PALESTINE  39 

world  by  means  of  "Questions  and  Responses"  (Shcclthoth 
u-Thcshuboth),  of  which  volumes  are  still  extant.  Ques- 
tions were  directed  to  him  from  distant  lands,  which  he 
answered,  and  these  answers  generally  were  regarded  as 
law.  Natronai  and  Amram  were  particularly  active  in  the 
ninth  century;  the  latter,  by  way  of  a  response,  sent  out  to 
Spain  the  sketch  of  a  liturgy  which  goes  by  his  name. 
Saadia,  in  the  tenth  century,  is  better  known  through  other 
literary  work  than  through  what  he  wrote  or  said  ex 
cathedra.  Sherira,  who  died  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  century, 
is  mainly  known  as  an  historian,  the  predecessor  and  in 
part  the  authority  of  Jost  and  Graetz.  With  R.  Ha'i,  who 
died  in  1040,  the  line  of  the  Gconim  came  to  an  end. 

And  now  a  Grand  Rabbi  on  the  Euphrates  was  no  longer 
needed.  In  the  ninth  century  the  Jews  of  Europe  and 
Africa  show  signs  of  literary  activity.  The  earliest  name  is 
that  of  an  Italian,  Moses  ben  Kalonymos,  who  carried  Rab- 
binic learning  to  Germany,  where  it  flourished  among  his 
descendants  for  four  centuries.  Eleazar,  surnamed  Kalir, 
was  about  the  first  author  of  poetry  for  the  service;  some 
derive  his  surname  from  Cagliari,  some  place  his  birthplace 
in  Africa.  Saadia,  of  Fayum,  in  Egypt,  reached  such  fame 
as  a  philosopher,  poet,  and  commentator  that  he  was  called 
thence  to  the  post  of  Gaon,  or  Excellency,  at  Mahasia.  R. 
Isaac  Alfassi  (i.  e.,  of  Fez)  in  the  eleventh  century  worked 
out  a  Code  of  Talmudic  law,  which  is  still  studied,  as  the 
pioneer  in  its  line.  In  the  eleventh  century  the  "golden 
Spanish  Age"  began  and  ran  its  course  to  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth.  Its  brightest  stars  are  Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol 
as  poet,  both  sacred  and  secular;  Jehuda  Hallevi,  who  alone 
wrote  poetry  in  the  truest  sense  in  Hebrew  after  its  extinc- 
tion as  a  living  tongue,  and  who,  in  his  Cuzari,  has  left  a 
monument  to  his  own  scholarship  and  clear  head,  and  an 
immortal  defence  of  his  religion;  the  brothers  Ibn  Ezra, 
sacred  poets;  the  keen-witted  philosopher,  Abraham  Ibn 
Ezra,  the  first  who  taught  men  to  read  the  Bible  according 


40         JEWISH  SERTICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

to  its  context  and  natural  sense,  and  not  as  a  quotation 
book;  the  grammarian,  David  Kimhi,  and  after  these  Moses, 
the  son  of  Maimun,  scholar,  physician,  Talmudist,  creed- 
maker;  the  man  who  identified  the  God  of  the  Bible  with 
the  God  of  philosophy;  the  author  not  only  of  the  ration- 
alizing "Teacher  of  the  Perplexed"  {More  Nebuchim),  but  of 
a  commentary  on  the  Mishna  and  of  that  Code  of  Talmudic 
Law  (including  much  of  the  service  book)  which  for  nearly 
three  centuries  was  acknowledged  as  authority  in  all  the 
countries  along  the  Mediterranean;  for  when  Maimonides 
left  Spain  for  Egypt  and  took  service  at  Cairo  with  Sultan 
Saladin,  his  overmastering  fame  imposed  on  the  Orient 
the  customs  and  ritual  of  Spain.  All  these  and  others  who 
wrote  on  ethics  and  metaphysics  from  the  Jewish  stand- 
point were  born  and  raised  under  Moslem  surroundings, 
and  many  of  their  works  were  written  in  Arabic.  But  the 
fall  of  the  Kingdom  of  Cordova,  in  1212,  did  not  cut  off  the 
line  of  great  men  in  Israel.  Even  in  the  Kingdom  of  Ara- 
gon,  which  had  been  Christian  for  centuries,  a  man  arose 
almost  equal  in  genius  and  importance  to  the  coryphci  of 
Arabic  Spain,  R.  Moses  ben  Nahman  (Nachmanides),  of 
Gerona.  Though  a  thinker  and  deeply  versed  in  the  secular 
learning  of  his  age,  he  was,  by  the  warmth  of  his  tempera- 
ment, led  to  favor  the  Mystics  in  some  of  their  vagaries. 
But  the  Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch,  supplementing 
those  of  Rashi  and  Ibn  Ezra,  which  he  wrote  in  Palestine  as 
an  exile  from  home,  in  his  last  days,  proved  his  well-bal- 
anced mind  and  clear  understanding;  it  was  not  improved 
on  till  the  new  weapons  of  modern  science  were  brought  to 
bear  on  the  exegesis  of  Holy  Writ.  The  Jewish  scholars 
of  the  thirteenth  century  did  a  great  service  to  their  brethren 
in  northern  Europe  as  well  as  to  their  own  countrymen  by 
translating  from  Arabic  into  Hebrew  the  works  of  Jehuda 
Hallevi,  Maimonides,  and  their  fellow-workers. 

A  Spanish  Jew  of  much  less  ability  or  fame  cannot  be 
passed  by  here;  it  is   David,  son   (or  grandson)  of  Abu- 


CENTER  NO  LONGER  IN  PALESTINE  41 

Dirhem,  generally  known  as  Abudraham,  of  Sevilla,  who, 
about  the  year  1340,  wrote  a  critical  analysis  of  and  com- 
mentary on  the  services  of  the  Synagogue  as  they  were  then 
carried  on  in  Spain.  His  book  has  been  to  the  writer  one  of 
the  richest  sources  for  the  historic  features  of  this  work. 

In  France  (of  which  the  Jews  of  Angevin  England  were 
an  outlying  post)  and  in  Germany,  there  was  none  of  the 
broad  culture  reaching  back  through  Arabic  channels  to 
the  philosophers  and  mathematicians  of  Athens  and  Alex- 
andria. But,  as  far  as  the  old  traditions,  common  sense, 
and  hard  work  sufficed,  great  results  were  achieved.  Rabbi 
Solomon  ben  Isaac,  better  known  by  his  initials  as  Rashi, 
who  was  born  in  northwestern  France  and  died  at  Worms 
in  1105,  performed  alone  the  stupendous  task  of  comment- 
ing by  running  notes  on  the  Pentateuch  and  other  parts 
of  the  Bible  and  very  nearly  on  the  whole  of  the  Baby- 
lonian Talmud.  The  great  Spanish  commentators  on  the 
Pentateuch,  Ibn  Ezra  and  Nachmanides,  had  his  com- 
mentary of  the  Pentateuch  before  them,  and  added  their 
own  notes  where  his  seemed  to  them  either  insufficient  or 
erroneous.  His  comment  on  the  Talmud  was  accompanied, 
in  the  twelfth  century,  by  "Additions"  (Tosefoth),  the  work 
of  his  immediate  or  mediate  disciples,  foremost  among  them 
his  grandson,  Rabbenu  Jacob  the  Perfect  (Tarn).  The  last 
in  time  of  the  "Tosafists"  was  R.  Me'ir  of  Rothenburg,  who 
died  in  prison,  in  1293,  the  victim  of  oppression. 

In  northern  Europe  there  was  then  much  less  tolerance 
of  opinion  than  among  the  Sefardim.  Some  of  the  Rabbis 
along  the  Rhine  hedged  the  Prayer  Book  about  with  a 
sacredness  hardly  less  than  that  due  to  Scripture.  Fore- 
most among  them  was  R.  Jehuda,  the  Pious,  who  de- 
nounced all  changes  from  the  "type"  as  wicked  and  blas- 
phemous.16 

In  the  year  1208  (4968  A.  M.)  Rabbi  Simha,  of  Vitry  in 
France,  who  calls  himself  a  disciple  of  Rashi,  but  was  so  only 
in  an  indirect  way,  published  his  Mahzor,  or  Cycle,  for  the 


42         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

year.  It  has  reached  our  days  in  several  manuscript 
copies;  it  was  brought  out  in  print  by  the  Mekitze  Nirda- 
mim  Society  in  1892. 

During  the  later  middle  ages  Spain  and  Germany  re- 
mained in  touch.  While  Rashi  formed  the  starting  point 
for  the  Spanish  commentators  of  the  Pentateuch,  the  Arabic 
works  of  the  great  Spanish  writers,  in  Hebrew  translations, 
were  studied  in  the  North,  and  though  the  rationalizing  of 
Maimonides  in  his  "Teacher  of  the  Perplexed"  and  in  the 
opening  chapters  of  his  Code  met  with  violent  opposition 
in  France  and  Germany,  his  creed  of  thirteen  articles  was 
approved,  and,  when  set  to  measure,  sung  in  all  the  Syna- 
gogues on  both  sides  of  the  Rhine.  The  successors  of 
Rashi  down  to  Meir  of  Rothenburg  were  quoted  and 
admired  in  Spain,  and  a  disciple  of  R.  Mei'r,  R.  Asher, 
known  as  Rosh,  fleeing  from  oppression  at  home,  became 
Rabbi  at  Toledo,  where  he  died  in  the  early  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century.17 

The  next  important  events  in  the  religious  history  of  the 
Jews  to  be  considered  are  the  compilation  of  a  new  Code 
by  R.  Joseph  Karo,  a  Palestinian  of  Spanish  origin,  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  in  accordance  with  the 
Sefardic  custom,  and  its  annotation  by  R.  Moses  Isserles 
(R'mo)  of  Cracow,  said  to  have  been  a  friend  and  assistant 
of  Kepler, early  in  the  seventeenth  century; the  modifications 
being  made  to  adapt  the  book  to  the  usages  of  the  German 
and  Polish  Jews.  This  code,  especially  in  the  form  put  upon 
it  by  the  young  scholar  of  Cracow,  shows  an  iron  rigor 
worthy  of  the  mathematician.  Its  leading  rule  is  this: 
Whatever  restriction  or  irksome  duty  the  Jews  or  any  large 
section  among  them  have  laid  upon  themselves,  is  and 
remains  the  law  for  all  and  for  all  time. 

Karo's  Code  is  known  as  the  "Set  Table"  (Shulhan  Aruch). 
Of  its  four  parts,  one,  the  "Path  of  Life"  (Orah  Hayini), 
treats  of  the  services  and  of  the  Sabbath  and  Feasts;  one 
deals  with  the  dietary  laws;  one,  with  husband  and  wife;  the 


CENTER  NO  LONGER  IN  PALESTINE  43 

last,  with  property  rights.  Unlike  Maimonides'  Code  it 
does  not  start  on  a  dogmatic  basis  nor  deal  with  things  long 
since  out  of  date.  Property  rights  are  treated  because,  in 
those  times,  Jews  everywhere  enjoyed  a  kind  of  autonomy 
in  their  disputes.  Joseph  Karo's  work  was  soon  acknowl- 
edged as  the  standard  in  all  Sefardic  communities,  and,  as 
annotated  at  Cracow,  by  all  the  German  Jews.  It  regulates 
carefully  every  act  of  life  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave;  its 
rules  are  well  arranged,  and  each  of  them  is  easily  found. 
By  the  common  herd  in  Germany  and  Poland,  young 
Moses  of  Cracow  was  long  held  in  higher  esteem  than  old 
Moses  himself  and  all  the  Sages  of  the  Mishna. 

Thus,  much  that  had  been  liquid  became  fixed.  However, 
additions  were  still  made  to  the  liturgy,  some  by  the  sinister 
efforts  of  the  Cabbalists,  some  through  the  wondrous  effects 
of  one  short  poem,  some  through  the  desire  of  orphans  to 
procure  "merit"  for  their  dead  parents. 

The  establishment  of  wealthy  colonies  by  the  fugitives 
from  Spain  and  Portugal  in  Amsterdam,  London,  and  Ham- 
burg, during  the  seventeenth  century,  brought  about  some 
mutual  borrowing  between  the  Jews  of  the  German  and 
those  of  the  Sefardic  Minhag.  It  was  always  easy  to  add, 
but  until  within  living  memory  almost  impossible  to  drop, 
anything  once  introduced  into  the  service  book. 

The  persecutions  to  which  the  Jews  were  subjected  at 
different  times  and  in  different  countries  for  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  have  had  very  little  effect  in  modifying  the  ser- 
vices or  in  producing  new  prayers  or  plaints  except  in  the 
fast  day  services.  Their  effect  was  simply  to  intensify 
Israel's  faith  and  render  it  less  receptive  of  foreign  beliefs 
and  modes  of  thought.  Hence  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak 
of  them  in  this  place. 

In  the  next  chapters  the  history  of  two  kindred  lines  of 
religious  thought  and  literature,  having  a  strong  bearing 
on  our  services,  will  be  touched  upon  separately. 


CHAPTER  IV 

MIDRASH    AND    AGGADTA 

THE  Talmud,  taken  in  its  widest  sense,  deals  not  with 
rules  of  conduct  (Halacha)  only,  but  with  matters  of  belief 
as  well.  It  tells  many  stories,  both  about  Biblical  per- 
sonages, filling'  out  the  loose  outlines  of  the  text,  and  about 
the  wise  and  great  men  (and  a  few  women  also)  of 
whose  thoughts  and  discussion  the  Talmud  is  made  up; 
other  stories  too;  bold  metaphors  about  things  divine;  not 
a  little  about  angels  and  evil  spirits;  homilies  on  detached 
verses  of  Holy  Writ;  guesses  (sometimes  containing  a  grain 
of  history)  about  the  origin  of  Biblical  books;  views  of  na- 
ture, of  medicine  (always  rather  crude),  and  what  not.  These 
things  are  not  discussed  between  contending  schools  or 
between  the  greater  and  lesser  number;  they  are  simply 
accredited  to  the  one  man  who  says  thus  and  so.  Beside  the 
Talmud  and  the  old  Commentaries  already  spoken  of,  which 
in  some  sense  are  a  part  of  the  Talmud,  there  is  a  literature 
of  works,  known  as  "Midrash,,"1  reaching  down  to  a  very 
late  age,  not  dealing  with  matters  of  conduct,  but  only  with 
the  other  subjects  of  religious  and  national  life  com- 
prised tinder  the  Hebrew  word  Haggada,  i.  e.,  Tale,  or 
its  Aramaic  transformation,  Aggadta.2  Midrash  means 
literally  a  searching,  and  denotes  an  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture other  than  the  obvious  one.  When  the  search  is  not 
to  lead  to  rules  of  conduct,  but  only  to  an  impressive  say- 
ing, a  sense  is  arrived  at  neither  obvious  nor  seriously 
meant  for  the  true  one;  in  fact,  two  or  three  different  mean- 
ings are  often  suggested  for  the  same  verse.  In  short,  the 
Midrash  is  hardly  more  than  a  collection  of  heads  for  ser- 

(44) 


MIDRA SH  A ND  AGGADTA 


45 


mons.3  This  whole  branch  of  literature  belongs  much  more 
to  Palestine  than  to  Babylon;  the  teachers  quoted  in  the 
Midrash  are  mainly  Palestinians;  on  disputed  points  it 
agrees  more  with  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  than  with  the 
Babylonian,  and  the  language  is  richly  interspersed  with 
Greek  words,  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  "West." 

Our  old  Sages  would  not,  or  could  not,  vote  on  points 
for  belief.  Thus,  when  they  wanted  to  decide  which 
books  should  be  received  into  the  Canon,  they  first  made  a 
rule  that  whoever  touches  a  sacred  book  must  afterwards 
wash  his  hands;  then  they  voted  whether  you  must  wash 
your  hands  after  touching  Canticles  or  Ecclesiastes.4  But 
on  a  few  great  questions,  such  as  the  belief  in  a  future  life, 
or  the  hope  for  a  coming  redeemer,  a  decision  was  prac- 
tically made  by  embodying  such  belief  and  hope  in  the  form 
of  prayer  and  then  ordaining,  as  a  matter  of  conduct,  that 
every  Israelite  should  recite  this  prayer  thrice  a  day.  For- 
tunately the  portions  of  the  service  which  law-observing 
Jews  of  any  learning  consider  as  obligatory  were  framed 
when  good  sense  and  enlightenment  still  ruled;  that  is,  either 
before  or  very  soon  after  the  compilation  of  the  Mishna. 
The  formulas  of  those  early  days  were  extended,  and  some- 
what "enriched,"  between  the  first  half  of  the  third  century 
and  the  close  of  the  eighth.  But  beyond  a  multiplication 
of  words  of  like  sense,  in  a  manner  repugnant  to  Western 
taste,  hardly  any  fault  can  be  found  with  these  extensions; 
there  is  very  little  allusion  to  "Aggadta,"  and  none  that 
is  offensive  to  reverential  feelings,5  and  this  for  a  good 
reason — there  was  still  a  central  authority  in  the  schools  of 
Tiberias  and  of  Nehardea,  Sura,  and  Pumbeditha.  As 
Midrash  and  Aggadta  represented  at  most  the  opinions  of 
single  men,  often  only  their  suggestions  or  the  play  of  their 
wit,  the  Patriarchs  or  Geonini  at  the  heads  of  these  schools 
would  not  lightly,  by  embodying  this  material  in  the  order 
of  prayers,  force  it  upon  the  consciences  of  the  people. 

A  strong  instance  of  a  Midrash  which  has  borne  fruit 


46         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

in  an  important  part  of  the  services  is  that  which  turns 
the  Day  of  Memorial,  or  New  Year's  Day,  into  the  Day 
of  Judgment.  Psalm  81 :  4,  5  reads  according  to  the  Jew- 
ish rendering:  "Blow  ye  the  cornet  (Shofar)  in  the  new 
moon:  at  the  darkening,  the  day  of  our  feast;  for  it  is 
a  statute  for  Israel,  a  judgment  with  the  God  of  Jacob." 
The  plain  meaning  of  "judgment"  here  is  a  synonym  for 
statute;  the  Hebrew  word  (Mishpat)  is  very  often  used  in 
this  sense.  But  the  "search"  of  Scripture  leads  elsewhere. 
The  only  Feast  which  falls  on  a  new  moon,  or  darkening,  is 
that  on  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month,  when  the  Law 
bids  us  blow  the  cornet.  This  is  a  "statute  for  Israel,"  but  it 
is  a  Day  of  Judgment  not  for  Israel  alone,  but  for  all  nations; 
the  day  of  "judgment  with  the  God  of  Jacob,"  the  one  day 
in  the  year  on  which  he  judges  all  the  world.6  It  is  not  at 
all  improbable  though, that  the  belief  in  this  yearly  judgment 
day  had  grown  up  independently  before  the  research  into 
this  Psalm  verse  yielded  a  ground  for  such  a  belief.  But 
there  is  hardly  any  other  Midrash,  any  other  view  or 
thought  not  plainly  or  apparently  Scriptural,  which  can  be 
found  in  the  old  liturgies  as  they  were  received  in  Europe 
and  Africa  early  in  the  ninth  century.7 

Again:  The  eighth  or  concluding  day  of  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  became  at  an  early  day  a  symbol  for  the  time 
when  the  Messiah  should  deliver  Israel.  The  wars  of  Gog, 
of  the  land  of  Magog,  predicted  by  Ezekiel,  were  expected 
to  occur  shortly  before  the  Messiah's  triumphant  entry  into 
his  Kingdom.8  Hence  a  chapter  from  the  prophecy  on 
Gog,  prince  of  Rosh,  is  read  as  a  lesson  on  the  Sabbath 
preceding  that  festive  day.  The  choice  of  the  lesson  rests 
on  a  Midrash,  but  the  lesson  might  have  been  chosen  on 
other  grounds,  and  few  inquire  why  Gog-Magog  is  read  on 
that.  day. 

But  when  we  come  to  the  so-called  "poetries"  which  were 
added  from  time  to  time  to  the  old  liturgy,  then  Midrash 
and  Aggadta  enter  largely.  Sometimes  the  old  materials 


MIDRASH  AND  AGGADTA  4y 

are  simply  thrown  into  better  Hebrew  and  poetical  form,  and 
have  thus  become  better  known  to  the  Jewish  public  through 
the  service  book  for  the  Festivals  than  they  ever  could  become 
through  the  heavy  volumes  of  the  Talmud  or  Midrash,  from 
which  the  poet  culled  them.  Such  is  the  story  of  the  Ten 
Martyrs,  ten  highly-learned  and  pious  Rabbis,  murdered 
cruelly  by  the  order  of  Roman  emperors;  true  in  the  main, 
but  full  of  legendary  embellishments.9  There  is  a  story 
about  Abraham,  extensively  known  even  among  Christians 
and  Moslems,  how,  in  his  youth,  he  was  by  Nimrod's  com- 
mands thrown  into  a  fiery  furnace  for  his  refusal  to  serve 
idols.  It  comes  from  a  "search"  into  the  words  "Ur  of  the 
Chaldeans,"  from  which  the  patriarch  was  brought.  Ur  in 
Hebrew  means  a  bright  fire;  but  in  Babylonian,  Ur  means 
"city,"  and  is  the  name  of  a  city.  The  story  is  briefly  told 
in  Festival  hymns  among  the  trials  of  the  Patriarch.10 

There  is  another  class  of  Midrashim  in  which  the  Israel- 
ite as  the  child  of  God  takes  some  liberties  in  speaking  of 
his  Heavenly  Father.  We  quote  an  example.  A  Rabbi  says: 
Whence  do  we  know  that  God  puts  on  phylacteries? 
It  is  said  (Isa.  62:  8):  The  Lord  has  sworn  by  his  right 
hand,  by  his  strong  arm.  The  strong  arm  means  the 
phylacteries;  for  it  is  said  (Ps.  29:  n):  The  Lord  gives 
strength  to  his  people!  And  how  do  I  know  that  the  phy- 
lacteries are  a  strength  to  Israel?  Because  it  is  written 
(Deut.  28:  10):  All  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  see  that 
God's  name  is  pronounced  upon  thee,  and  shall  be  afeard 
of  thee.  To  the  question  which  is  naturally  asked,  what  is 
written  in  these  phylacteries?  the  answer  is:  Where  is  like 
thy  people  Israel  one  people  on  the  earth  (i  Chr.  17:  2)?  In 
other  words,  as  Israel  in  the  words  inscribed  professes  the 
One  God,  so  their  Heavenly  Father  makes  a  corresponding 
profession  of  one  people.11  The  notion  of  God  putting  on 
phylacteries  being  once  started,  there  was  a  ready  explana- 
tion of  the  words  with  which  Exodus  33  closes:  Thou 
shalt  see  my  back  parts,  but  my  face  cannot  be  seen.  This 


48         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

means  naturally  then  that  God  showed  Moses  only  the 
knot  in  the  rear  by  which  the  phylacteries  are  tied  round 
the  head.12  These  passages  are  alluded  to  in  the  words  of 
the  "Song  of  Glory:"  "He  showed  the  knot  of  the  Tephil- 
lin  to  the  meekest  of  men."13 

Sometimes  a  Midrash  has  been  thought  out  after  the 
introduction  of  words  or  ceremonies  in  the  service,  osten- 
sibly to  find  grounds  for  them,  but  really  to  awaken  pious 
feelings  or  memories  when  these  words  are  spoken  or  the 
ceremony  is  performed.  Thus  the  Sages  at  Tiberias  give  five 
several  reasons  for  the  custom  of  drinking  four  cups  of  wine 
at  the  Passover  night  service.  The  first  of  them  derives  the 
number  four  from  the  fourfold  promise  God  made  through 
Moses  to  Israel  (Ex.  6):  I  will  bring  you  forth,  I  will 
deliver  you,  I  will  redeem  you,  I  will  take  you  for  a  people. 
The  other  reasons  are  rather  far-fetched.  This  alone  is 
widely  known.  A  well-posted  father  tells  it  to  his  children 
at  the  Passover  supper,  and  it  thus  becomes  part  of  the 
exercises.14 

In  fact,  much  of  the  matter  read  on  that  night  is  Mid- 
rash,  i.  e.,  free  interpretation,  or  Haggada,  written  expressly 
for  the  occasion.  Perhaps  the  service  of  that  night  is 
called  the  Haggada  of  the  Passover,  not  in  the  sense  of  the 
story,  but  in  that  of  homiletics  for  the  Passover  night.15 

But  Midrash  and  Aggadta  have  entered  the  Jewish 
services  mainly  by  becoming  the  groundwork  of  the 
sermon,  and  it  is  so  yet  wherever  the  preacher  can  find  an 
appreciative  public.  The  old-fashioned  "Darshan,"  or 
"Maggid,"10  in  his  "Drosho"  could  string  out  the  legends 
and  wonderful  interpretations  found  in  the  old  repositories, 
with  his  own  additions,  for  hours  at  a  stretch  without  fatigu- 
ing his  hearers.  As  Aggadta  is  the  opinion  of  only  one  man, 
which  none  need  believe  unless  it  strikes  him  as  plausible, 
the  preacher  may  develop  his  material  according  to  his  own 
taste,  with  only  this  limit  set  to  his  free  movement,  that 
he  must  not  land  at  some  conclusion  at  war  with  the 
Halacha,  or  laws  of  conduct,  or  with  the  fundamental 


MIDRASH  AND  AGGADTA  49 

beliefs  of  Israel,  or,  as  it  would  be  put  in  short,  he  must  not 
go  off  into  "Epicurism."17 

The  reader  who  has  no  Jewish  books  at  hand  can  find  the 
most  typical  example  of  the  Midrashic  style  (without  the 
above  limitations)  by  reading  in  the  New  Testament  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  The  writer  of  this  Epistle  not  only 
misconstrues  every  verse,  but  also  misreads  several  words  of 
the  Scriptural  text.  Even  this  he  has  in  common  with  good 
Jewish  masters  of  Midrash,  who  often,  in  order  to  point 
a  moral  or  adorn  a  tale,  tell  their  hearers  or  readers:  Do 
not  read  thus  (the  true  reading),  but  thus  (a  slightly  changed 
reading  with  a  fanciful  sense).  Of  the  narrative  Aggadta,  a 
very  striking  example  is  found  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew,  where  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  Satan  are 
represented  as  pelting  each  other  with  quotations  from  Holy 
Writ,  the  victory  of  course  remaining  with  the  former. 

Among  the  ignorant  some  mischief  has  been  done  by 
Midrash  and  Aggadta.  They  do  not  understand  its  extent 
and  true  nature;  they  do  not  know  its  undisguised  con- 
tradictions nor  the  principle  taught  by  even  the  deeply  or- 
thodox, that  Aggadta  is  binding  on  no  one's  conscience;18 
hence  the  unlearned,  and  particularly  Jewish  women,  have 
often  taken  the  most  striking  and  most  easily  remembered 
legends,  which  are  apt  to  be  also  the  most  grotesque,  as 
true  coin,  thus  throwing  discredit  on  our  literature,  if  not 
scandal  on  our  religion.  It  must,  however,  be  said  in 
defence  of  the  Talmud,  that  while  many  of  the  Emoraim 
speak  of  God  in  bold  metaphors  without  rebuke  from  their 
companions,  there  is  an  undercurrent  of  protest  against 
all  anthropomorphic  thought,  which  breaks  out  frequently 
in  an  observation  on  some  Bible  verse  like  these:  "If  it  was 
not  so  written  we  should  not  dare  to  say  it,"  or  "The  Tora 
spoke  in  human  language,"  or  "The  Tora  said  so  only  to 
break  it  to  the  ear,"  and  very  often  by  a  word  meaning, 
"were  it  possible,"  coined  on  purpose  to  indicate  that  any- 
thing human  predicated  of  the  Almighty  is  not  to  be  liter- 
ally understood.19 
4 


CHAPTER  V 

SECRET  LORE,  OR  CABBALA 

POSSIBLY  in  very  early  and  certainly  in  very  late  times  the 
secret  lore,  known  as  Cabbala,  had  its  influence  on  the 
service  book,  and  some  of  its  features  must  be  here  stated, 
and  its  history  briefly  sketched.  While  in  their  outward 
form  the  writings  of  the  mystics  often  resemble  the  ordinary 
Midrash,  they  differ  greatly  in  this:  they  are  always  pain- 
fully serious.  The  believing  reader  feels  that  these  books 
should  be  approached  in  awe  and  by  none  but  the  worthy. 

The  speculations  of  the  Cabbala,  like  those  of  the  Gnosis, 
of  Neo-Platonism,  and  of  Christian  dogma,  flow  from  one 
source — the  dissatisfaction  of  brooding  minds  with  the  stern 
simplicity  of  the  One  God  idea.  The  First  Cause1  is  infinite 
in  space  and  time;  one  and  undistinguished  by  parts  or 
qualities;  how  can  we  conceive  the  transitions  from  the 
undivided  and  Infinite  One  to  the  manifold,  the  complex, 
and  the  small,  in  the  phenomenal  world?  How  can  we 
grasp  the  thought  of  that  moment  in  past  eternity  when, 
in  the  words  of  the  Lord  to  Job,  he  "cast  the  corner-stone  of 
the  earth."2  Even  in  our  days  of  evolution  it  is  as  hard  as 
ever  to  think  of  the  moment  when  the  slow  changes  began 
with  which  it  deals,  and  still  harder  to  conceive  that  they 
have  gone  on  from  evermore. 

Hence  men  contrived  something  to  interpose  between 
the  First  Cause  and  the  phenomenal  world,  an  emanation 
or  successive  emanations,  or  the  Demiurgos,  or  Mechani- 
cian, of  Plato,  Wisdom  personified,  the  Word,  or  Logos, 
of  the  Gospel  of  John,  the  First  Effect3  of  later  Cabbalists. 
The  Shechina,  that  is,  the  residence  or  presence  of  God  on 

(50) 


SECRET  LORE,  OR  CABBALA  51 

earth,  was  also  turned  by  the  mystics  into  a  phase  or  per- 
son of  the  Deity,  somewhat  like  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the 
Christians.*  Beneath  the  lower  aspects  of  the  Deity,  cre- 
ated beings  of  vastly  greater  than  human  power  were  con- 
ceived— the  angels  or  messengers  of  God's  will.  In  the 
Bible  the  distinction  between  God's  action  and  that  of  his 
messenger  is  not  always  clear;  the  "Angel  of  the  Presence" 
is  introduced  by  the  Prophets  when  the  action  is  God's 
own;  and  so  with  the  Metatron5  of  the  Talmud.  In  the 
older  books  of  the  Bible  the  angels  who  appear  have  neither 
name  nor  individuality;  each  of  them  comes  on  his  one 
errand,  does  it  and  disappears.6  Neither  Isaiah  with  his 
six-winged  Seraphim,  shouting  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  nor 
Ezekiel,  with  his  Beasts  and  Wheels,  intended  to  teach  the 
comparative  rank  of  the  celestials;  and  the  angel  who 
encourages  Zerubbabel  and  the  High  Priest  in  Zechariah's 
dream  is  but  a  passing  phantom.  In  the  late  Book  of 
Daniel,  however,  the  Persian  influence  tells;  his  angels  bear 
names,  and  are  strictly  personal.  He  speaks  also  of  a 
heavenly  "prince"  of  Persia  and  a  like  "prince"  of  the 
Greeks,  national  types,  genii,  and  champions  of  earthly 
Kingdoms  in  the  realms  above;  an  idea  fully  developed 
in  the  later  Cabbala,  in  which  the  "Prince  of  Edom,"  i.  e., 
of  Christendom,  plays  a  great  part.7 

Later  on  a  heavenly  hierarchy  was  built  up:  Cherubim, 
Seraphim,  Hayoth,  and  Ofannim  (the  beasts  and  wheels 
of  Ezekiel),  and  six  other  classes,  which  it  is  needless  to 
name.  Many  individual  names  were  invented,  some  of 
which  became  common  property,  while  some  were  known 
only  to  the  initiated.  The  study  of  the  opening  chapters  of 
Ezekiel  the  "Work  of  the  Chariot,"  or  "Mercaba,"  became 
a  special  branch  of  learning;  the  full  acquisition  whereof  was 
expected  to  confer  on  the  possessor  powers  beyond  those 
of  ordinary  men.  The  teachers  of  the  Mishna  thought  that 
only  the  wisest  could  be  trusted  with  such  dangerous  knowl- 
edge.8 It  is  reported  that  only  four  entered  this  "Paradise," 


52         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

and  that  R.  Akiba  alone  among  the  four  "entered  in  peace 
and  came  out  in  peace."9  A  majority,  which  unfortunately 
was  afterwards  overruled,  held  that  the  first  chapter  of 
Ezekiel  should  never  be  read  as  the  lesson  for  the  day.10 

Men  who  looked  on  every  word  and  letter  of  Scripture 
as  inspired  held,  of  course,  that  whichever  of  God's  names 
is  employed  therein  is  always  chosen  to  denote  the  aspect 
or  attribute  at  work  in  the  passage  or  connection.  The 
Talmud  shows  that  it  was  publicly  agreed  on  and  taught, 
that  Elohim  implies  the  quality  of  Justice,  and  the  Tetra- 
grammaton,  the  Attribute  of  Mercy.11  But  the  Mystics 
went  much  further;  they  set  up  their  ten  Sephiroth — ten 
Categories  at  first,  afterwards  ten  Attributes  of  God,  the 
nature  of  which  is  understood  only  by  them;  the  seven 
lower12  and  the  three  higher,  Wisdom,  Reason,  and  Knowl- 
edge, or  the  Crown.13  Thus,  with  the  Cabbalists,  God's 
name  coupled  with  that  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  or  of  Jacob, 
would  indicate  the  first,  second,  or  third  lower  Sephira;  the 
Tetragrammaton  itself,  according  to  position,  might  imply 
the  effects  of  this  or  that  of  the  ten,  or  perhaps  of  all  of 
them  together. 

The  Sephiroth  were  combined  into  the  figure  of  a  man, 
the  Adam  Kadmon,  or  heavenly  archetype  of  the  terrestial 
man ;  a  notion  which  became  in  the  early  middle  ages  known 
to  the  Gentile  world.14  The  mystics  found  divine  names 
and  groups  of  Sephiroth  in  passages  from  Holy  Writ  and 
from  the  oldest  prayers,  where  the  uninitiated  would  not 
even  suspect  them.  The  "names"  thus  picked  out  and  built 
up  like  anagrams  were  thought  to  work  wonders  when 
recited  with  proper  devotion  or  when  transcribed. 

The  oldest  text-book  of  the  Cabbala,  the  "Book  of  Form- 
ation" (Jetzira),  is  ascribed  to  R.  Akiba  (though  the  most 
ardent  claim  Abraham  himself  as  the  author),  and  it  seems, 
after  weighing  the  discordant  opinions  of  modern  writers, 
that  the  book  was  written  either  by  R.  Akiba  or  at  least 
in  his  time.15  The  book  has  come  down  to  our  times  in 


SECRET  LORE,  OR  CABBALA  53 

recensions  of  varying  length,  but  the  longest  contains 
less  than  four  thousand  words.  It  sets  forth  the  "thirty- 
two  paths  of  wisdom,"  along  which  God  has  shaped  and 
governs  the  world;  that  is,  the  ten  Sephiroth  and  the  twenty- 
two  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  The  Sephiroth  of  this 
book  are  neither  the  Spheres  of  Ptolemy  and  of  Dante,  nor 
the  first  ten  numbers ;  nor  are  they  divided  into  seven  lower 
and  three  higher;  nor  do  they  bear  the  names  afterwards 
bestowed  on  them;  they  are  simply  six  directions  in  space, 
two  in  time,  and  the  two<  extremes  of  good  and  evil.16  No 
important  secrets  can  be  obtained  from  the  little  volume. 

The  love  for  numbers,  on  which  to  base  the  nature  of  all 
things,  came  down  from  Pythagoras,  who  probably  had 
himself  acquired  it  on  Semitic  ground,  to  the  Cabbalists  of 
the  middle  ages.  Beside  the  Sephiroth  and  beside  the  let- 
ters, grouped  in  three  and  seven  and  twelve  in  this  first  text- 
book, we  find  later  on  the  four  worlds:  that  of  Creation 
(Beria),  that  of  Deed  ('Asiya),  that  of  Formation  (Jetzira), 
and  that  of  Uplifting  (Atziluth),  a  distinction  which  capti- 
vated the  philosophic  mind  of  Leibnitz,  when,  as  a  young 
man,  he  entered  into  the  circle  of  the  Rosicrucians  at 
Nuremberg.  The  five  stages  of  the  human  soul,  derived 
from  its  five  Hebrew  names  found  in  Scripture,  also  were 
deeply  studied;  the  distinctions  were  deemed  important 
truths;  in  our  times  they  have  given  rise  to  the  seven  souls 
of  esoteric  Buddhism.17  The  forty-nine  days  between  Pass- 
over and  Pentecost  played  a  great  part  in  the  younger 
mysticism;  and  seventy-two  "names"  were  built  up  from 
three  verses  in  Exodus  14,  which  happen,  each  of  them,  to 
be  made  up  of  seventy-two  letters.18 

While  these  tendencies  were  at  work,  new  books,  bolder 
and  bulkier  than  those  preceding  them,  would  come  out 
from  time  to  time,  either  as  commentaries  on  the  "Book  of 
Formation,"  or  as  separate  treatises  under  the  assumed 
name  of  some  of  the  early  Sages  of  the  Mishna. 

Such  were  the  two  books  which  first  appeared  late  in  the 


54.         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

tenth  century  under  the  name  Hechaloth  (Temples),  pur- 
porting to  be  the  work  of  R.  Ishmael,  a  Sage  of  the  second 
century,  from  which  Cabbalistic  notions  spread  among  the 
learned  of  the  time,  not  only  in  the  shape  of  new  prayers, 
but  also  in  the  way  of  new  meanings  to  old  parts  of  the 
liturgy.19  The  great  teachers  of  the  Arabic  period  in  Spain, 
Jehuda  Hallevi,  Maimonides,  and  Ibn  Ezra,  all  of  whom 
flourished  in  the  twelfth  century,  held  aloof  from  the  Cab- 
bala. The  latter  was,  like  the  teachers  of  the  secret  lore, 
fond  of  Pythagorean  dalliance  with  numbers,  but  he  struck 
out  on  independent  lines.  However,  in  the  next  cen- 
tury, Nachmanides,  of  Gerona,  in  Christian  Spain,  the  most 
beautiful  character  among  Jewish  scholars  since  the  days 
of  Hillel,  imbibed  a  leaning  to  mysticism  from  his  early 
teachers,  which  he  shows  in  his  writings,  though  he  never 
became  a  declared  adept. 

In  the  same  century  and  in  Spain,  two  new  publica- 
tions appeared,  more  bulky  than  any  of  the  former,  in  which 
the  Cabbala  is  set  forth  as  a  system.  The  first  of  these  is 
the  Bahir  (the  Bright)  ascribed  to  Nehonia  ben  Hakkana, 
one  of  the  oldest  Sages  of  Mishna  times,  of  the  contents  of 
which  nothing  is  now  read  except  a  short  prayer;  for 
after  about  forty  years  it  was  supplanted  by  a  much  more 
ambitious  work,  the  Zohar  (Radiance),  which,  even  in  small 
print,  makes  three  stout  octavo  volumes.  The  Zohar  has 
ever  since  been  the  leading  text-book  of  the  Cabbala.  It 
was  undoubtedly  written  by  R.  Moses  de  Leon,  a  Jewish 
scholar  of  the  thirteenth  century;  all  from  his  own  head 
except  as  far  as  he  used  well-known  materials;  but  he  gave 
out  that  the  book  had  been  discovered  in  Palestine,  and  R. 
Simeon  ben  Joha'i,  of  the  days  of  the  Antonines,  figured  as 
the  author.  The  Zohar  takes  the  shape  of  a  running  com- 
mentary on  the  five  books  of  Moses,  in  discourses  by  R. 
Simeon  and  his  son,  purporting  to  have  been  delivered 
while  he  was,  according  to  a  Talmudic  story,  for  twelve 
years  a  fugitive  from  Roman  persecution,  hiding  in  a  cave, 


SECRET  LORE,  OR  CABBALA  55 

where  he  was  fed  and  attended  by  his  disciples.  It  is  written 
in  the  Aramaic  of  Northern  Palestine.  The  forgery,  however, 
is  apparent  enough.  In  the  first  place,  the  scant  vocabulary 
betrays  an  author  who  has  never  spoken  Aramaic  as  his 
mother  tongue;  secondly,  conditions  much  later  than  the 
times  of  the  Antonines  are  often  referred  to.  Thus  the 
inhabited  earth  is  divided  out  between  Edom  and  Ishmael, 
i.  e.,  between  Christianity  and  Islam;  the  Messianic  time  is 
predicted  in  numbers  of  the  Era  of  Creation,  which  was 
unknown  and  not  even  thought  of  in  the  days  of  R. 
Simeon  and  for  many  centuries  after  him.  But  positive 
proof  of  the  fraud  perpetrated  by  R.  Moses  de  Leon 
has  been  unearthed  and  published  in  recent  years.20 

The  Zohar,  grown  on  Spanish  soil,  shows  a  strong  impress 
of  Christian  dogma.  Its  Messiah  is  superhuman,  and  there 
is  a  sort  of  Trinity,  though  it  differs  greatly  from 
that  of  the  Christians.21  For  more  than  two  centuries  it 
was  but  little  read;  the  Aramaic  tongue,  once  popular,  was 
now  much  less  known  than  Hebrew.  Moreover,  simple- 
minded  Jews  were  unwilling  to  read  it,  deeming  themselves 
unworthy  to  delve  in  the  most  sacred  mysteries.  But  in 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  Isaac  Luria,  surnamed 
from  his  birthplace  II  Calabrese,  studied  it,  found  in  it  the 
consummation  of  all  divine  truth,  and  made  its  contents 
known  to  the  Jews  of  three  continents.  The  art  of  printing 
came  to  his  aid.  The  Zohar  was  translated  into  Latin,  and 
captivated  many  Christian  minds.  The  fearful  calamities 
which  afflicted  Israel  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies -prepared  them  to  read  and  to  believe  anything  which 
would  transplant  them  from  their  sad  surroundings  into 
heavenly  spheres  and  amidst  choirs  of  angels.  Books  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Zohar  followed  to  supplement  its  work.22  Pass- 
ages from  it  (among  them  a  truly  sublime  prayer)  passed  into 
the  service  books.23  The  false  Messiah,  Shabbathai  Tzebi, 
who  appeared  at  Smyrna  in  1666,  found  in  the  mystic  ten- 
dency of  the  Jews  of  the  time  a  great  help  for  his  unholy 


56          JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ambition,  and  so  did  his  successors,  Hayim  Vidal  and  Jacob 
Frank,  in  the  next  century.  But  the  wholesale  apostasies 
caused  by  these  men  led  to  a  strong  reaction  against  the 
Zohar  and  Cabbalism,  the  story  of  which  is  well  told  in 
the  last  volume  of  Graetz's  History  of  the  Jews.  But  there 
is  a  considerable  sect  in  Eastern  Europe,  that  of  the  Hasi- 
dim,  founded  by  Israel  Ba'al  Shem  Tob,  and  counting  its 
adherents  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  to  whom  the  Zohar  is 
still  as  sacred  as  the  Bible  itself.24  Outside  of  that  sect, 
the  un-Jewish  dogmas  of  the  Zohar  and  its  arbitrary  asser- 
tions of  knowledge  about  things  unknowable  are  now  be- 
coming better  understood  even  in  the  most  orthodox 
circles;25  yet  it  seems  almost  impossible  to  erase  from  the 
service  books  all  the  follies  and  blasphemies  which  have 
crept  into  them  from  this  source,  mainly  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century.26 

The  very  name  of  Cabbala,  i.  e.,  tradition,  given  by  its  ad- 
herents to  the  secret  lore,  is  a  usurpation.  In  the  Mishna 
this  word  is  usually  applied  to  the  sayings  of  the  Prophets, 
on  the  ground  that  the  tradition  passed  from  Moses  and 
Joshua  to  the  Prophets.27 

The  Midrash,  or  Aggadta,  often  seems  to  flow  imper- 
ceptibly into  Cabbala;  but  there  is  always  this  distinction, 
that  the  former  is  open  to  the  public,  while  the  books  of  the 
latter,  even  when  printed,  profess  to  belong  to  the  initiated 
alone. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    CALENDAR 

THE  elements  of  the  Jewish  Calendar  are  the  day,  the 
month,  and  the  year.  The  day  begins  in  the  evening-  at  the 
moment  when,  on  a  clear  night,  three  stars  are  first  visible, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  about  twenty-five  minutes  after 
sunset.  Hence  the  Sabbath  begins  on  Friday  evening,  ear- 
lier in  winter  than  at  the  equinoxes;  earlier  at  these  than  in 
midsummer;  also  earlier  in  the  winter,  and  later  in  the 
summer,  in  the  high  North  than  in  sub-tropical  countries. 

The  Bible  says,  "from  eventide  to  eventide  ye  shall  ob- 
serve your  Sabbath,"  and  as  the  law  and  usage  grew  up 
before  the  time  of  clocks,  they  naturally  conformed  to  the 
actual  night-fall  of  the  place  and  season. 

The  month  on  which  the  Jewish  Calendar  is  based  is  that 
which  begins  with  the  new  moon.  In  astronomy  this  means 
the  moment  at  which  the  center  of  the  sun's  disk  and  that 
of  the  moon's  disk  are  in  the  same  longitude;  but  in  the 
Rabbinic  traditions  it  meant  the  time  when  the  moon  had 
so  far  overtaken  the  sun  in  longitude  that  its  sickle  with  the 
convex  edge  turned  to  the  right  could  be  seen.  Upon  the 
evidence  of  witnesses  who  had  observed  it,  the  Sanhedrin 
or  the  Patriarch  would,  as  long  as  these  authorities  were 
recognized,  proclaim  the  new  moon.1 

When  the  Patriarchate  at  Tiberias  felt  its  power  waning,  it 
adopted  the  rule  of  the  Calendar  which  Meton  had  intro- 
duced at  Athens  in  the  days  of  Pericles,  by  which  a 
constant  period  of  time,  the  average  of  many  lunar  months, 
was  made  the  measure  of  each  month.  The  length  of  this 
period  was  known  with  a  great  degree  of  correctness.  It 

(57) 


58          JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

must  have  been  calculated  from  two  solar  eclipses  several 
hundred  years  apart,  which  could  be  easily  done,  consider- 
ing the  early  times  in  which  Egyptians  and  Babylonians 
had  observed  such  events.  The  length  of  this  month 
was  taken  at  29  days,  12  hours,  and  793  "parts,"  there  being 
1080  parts  to  the  hour;  or  29  days,  12  hours,  44  minutes, 
33-  seconds.  This  is  correct  within  less  than  a  second. 
The  moment  at  which  the  month  begins  is  known  as  its 
Molad,  or  birth,  and  this  is  noted  in  every  Jewish  calendar 
for  each  month.2 

As  twelve  of  such  months  make  only  354  days,  8  hours. 
48  minutes,  40  seconds,  the  Festivals  set  for  days  in  named 
months  would  soon  drift  back  into  the  wrong  seasons  of 
the  year.  As  a  sheaf  of  barley  was  to  be  offered  during 
the  Passover,  it  must  have  been  within  the  province  of 
King,  or  Senate,  or  High  Priest  to  add  a  month  to  the 
twelve  when  necessary  to  bring  the  Feast  to  its  proper 
season.  The  Sanhedrin,  when  constituted,  deemed  the 
right  to  proclaim  the  new  moon  and  to  make  a  "pregnant" 
year,  that  is,  to  add  a  thirteenth  month,  as  the  highest  mark 
of  their  sovereignty  in  Israel. 

Before  the  Babylonian  exile,  the  twelve  months  had 
Hebrew  names,  of  which  only  four  have  been  preserved: 
that  of  the  first  month,  including  the  Passover,  Abib  (corn- 
ear);  the  second  Ziv  (splendor);  the  seventh  Ethanim  (con- 
stant streams) ;  the  eighth  Bui  (of  uncertain  meaning). 
Generally  the  Bible  speaks  of  the  months  by  number,  the 
first,  the  third,  the  seventh  month.  After  the  exile  we  find 
the  Babylonian  names  of  the  months,  which  are  still  used 
in  every  Jewish  Calendar,  i.  e.,  Nisan,  lyar,  Sivan,  Tammuz, 
Ab,  Elul,  Tishri,  Marheshvan,  Kislev,  Tebeth,  Shebat, 
Adar.  If  these  are  insufficient,  an  Adar  Sheni  (second  Adar) 
is  added. 

It  was  long  an  open  secret  that  the  Sanhedrin  would  add 
or  not  add  a  thirteenth  month  by  the  rule  that  the  Passover 
must  always  be  celebrated  on  the  first  full  moon  after  the 


CALENDAR 


59 


vernal  equinox;  hence  the  canon  of  the  Council  of  Nice 
fixing  Easter  on  the  Sunday  following  this  first  full  moon. 
But  as  disputes  might  easily  arise  as  to  the  true  time  of  the 
equinox,  Hillel  the  Younger,  the  Patriarch,  thought  it 
better  to  adopt  a  rule  based  on  a  simple  count  rather  than 
one  resting  on  astronomical  observation.  The  Metonic 
cycle,  or  Athenian  calendar,  is  made  up  of  nineteen  years, 
that  is,  twelve  of  twelve  months  each,  and  seven  of  thir- 
teen months  each.  In  the  form  in  which  the  Jews  adopted 
this  cycle,  the  following  years  have  thirteen  months  each :  3, 
6,  8,  n,  14,  17,  19.  These  19  years  have  235  months,  or  6939 
days,  16  hours,  33  minutes,  3-^-  seconds,  and  this  period 
is  more  nearly  correct  than  6939  days,  18  hours,  the  length 
of  19  years  by  the  Julian  calendar,  but  it  exceeds  by  over 
two  hours  the  length  of  19  tropical  years  as  it  has  since 
been  ascertained.3 

The  Bible  always  counts  the  Passover  month  as  the  first, 
and  what  we  call  nowadays  the  New  Year  is  known  in 
Leviticus  and  again  in  Nehemiah  as  the  first  of  the  seventh 
month.  The  Era  of  Seleucus,  which  was  in  use  among  the 
Jews  for  many  centuries,  was  counted  from  a  new  moon 
near  the  fall  equinox  in  the  year  311  before  the  Christian 
era,  and  has  undoubtedly  had  its  effect  upon  the  Jewish 
year;  but  Nachmanides,  in  his  Commentary  on  Leviticus, 
argues  strongly  for  the  position  that  the  Mosaic  Law  con- 
templates two  beginnings  of  the  year;  one  in  our  Tishri, 
as  well  as  that  which  Exodus  12  fixes  on  the  first  day  of 
the  Passover  month.  For  in  the  Sabbatic  year  there  was 
to  be  neither  sowing  nor  harvest,  and  as  the  grains  of  Pales- 
tine are  all  winter  crops,  seed  and  harvest  fall  into  one  year 
only  if  it  begins  in  the  fall.4 

]n  practice  the  month  can  contain  only  whole  days,  and 
so  the  twelve  hours  and  a  fraction  above  29  days  are  dis- 
posed of  by  making  the  months  alternate  between  30  and 
29  days.  Nisan,  Sivan,  Ab,  Tishri,  Kislev,  and  Shebat  have 
each  30  days,  the  other  six  months,  each  29  days.  When 


60         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Adar  is  doubled,  the  first  Adar  has  30  days,  the  second  29. 
This  does  not  fully  absorb  the  44  minutes  3^  seconds  above 
the  twelve  hours.  For  this  purpose  Marheshvan  is  as  often  as 
necessary  lengthened  to  30  days.  But  for  ritual  purposes 
the  year  is  occasionally  shortened  by  having  only  29  days 
in  both  Marheshvan  and  Kislev.  Here  of  course  considera- 
tions enter  that  were  unknown  to  the  Athenians,  from 
whom  the  calendar  was  borrowed. 

It  is  a  rule  that  the  Day  of  Atonement  (Tishri  loth)  may 
not  come  on  a  Friday  or  a  Sunday  on  account  of  the  great 
inconvenience  of  preparing  food  on  Sabbath  for  the  fast 
day  or  vice  versa.  Another  rule  forbids  putting  on  a  Sab- 
bath the  old  national  holiday,  the  seventh  of  the  Feast  of 
Huts  (Tishri  2ist);  hence  the  first  of  Tishri,  the  Day  of 
Memorial,  or  modern  New  Year,  cannot  come  on  a  Sun- 
day, Wednesday,  or  Friday. 

Then  there  is  the  older  rule  that  the  Molad  of  Tishri  must 
occur  before  midday,  otherwise  there  would  not  have  been 
time  for  the  sacrificial  service,  and  the  next  day  is  the  New 
Year. 

Thus,  if  by  calculation  this  Molad  should  strike  Saturday 
afternoon,  the  first  of  Tishri  must  be  put  off  to  Sunday,  and 
this  being  disallowed,  further  on  to  Monday;  the  adjustment 
for  this  purpose  is  made  at  the  end  of  the  months  of 
Marheshvan  and  Kislev  in  the  preceding  year.  There  are 
some  niceties  in  the  calculation  which  it  is  needless  here  to 
pursue.5 

The  first  of  every  Jewish  month  is  celebrated  as  a  half 
holiday,  the  Rosh  Hodesh,  or  New  Moon,  of  the  Bible. 
When  the  preceding  month  has  thirty  days,  its  last  day  is 
celebrated  in  like  manner.  Thus  Ivar  has  "two  days  of 
Rosh  Hodesh;"  namely,  the  3oth  of  Nisan  and  the  ist  of 
lyar,  while  Nisan  itself  has  only  one,  its  own  first  day.6 

The  Biblical  yearly  days  of  holiness  and  rest  are  enum- 
erated in  Leviticus  23  and  again  in  Numbers  28  and  29, thus: 
Passover  on  the  i5th  and  2ist  of  the  first  month  (Nisan); 


THE  CALENDAR  6 1 

the  Day  of  Memorial  on  the  first  of  the  seventh  month 
(Tishri) ;  the  Day  of  Atonement  on  the  tenth,  the  first  day 
of  Huts  on  the  fifteenth,  the  "Eighth  a  rest"  on  the  226.  of 
Tishri.  Pentecost  is  to  be  celebrated  fifty  days  after  a 
"Sabbath"  in  or  near  the  Passover.  Taken  literally,  as  the 
Samaritans  did,  Pentecost  would  always  fall  on  a  Sunday. 
The  Pharisees  for  good  reasons  construed  the  word  "Sab- 
bath" to  mean  the  first  day  of  the  Passover,  which  always 
brings  the  Pentecost  on  the  6th  of  Sivan,  the  third  month ; 
and  they  construed  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  Exodus  so  as 
to  locate  the  Revelation  on.  Mount  Sinai  on  that  day. 
Hence  Pentecost,  which  in  the  words  of  Scripture  is  only 
a  harvest  feast  for  the  first-fruits  of  wheat,  attained  a  higher 
meaning;  it  became,  in  the  words  of  our  Prayer  Book,  "the 
day  of  the  gift  of  our  Law."7 

New  Year  is  celebrated  for  two  days  even  in  Palestine, 
on  the  ground  that,  if  the  new  moon  were  still  proclaimed, 
it  might  be  announced  so  late  as  to  require  the  next  day  for 
the  completion  of  the  service.  The  Day  of  Atonement 
being  a  fast  cannot  be  doubled. 

The  five  other  holidays  are  doubled  outside  of  Palestine 
on  the  following  historical  grounds,  which  would  a  fortiori 
apply  to  the  New  Year  too.  While  the  Sanhedrin  at 
Jerusalem  or,  in  later  days,  the  Patriarch  at  Tiberias 
announced  the  new  moons,  the  news  was  flashed  from 
mountain  top  to  mountain  top  throughout  Palestine  but  not 
to  other  countries;  those  in  Babylonia  would  not  receive 
the  news  even  in  two  or  three  weeks.  Hence,  not  feeling 
sure  whether  the  preceding  months  should  not  have  thirty 
days,  they  kept  two  days  of  each  Feast;  and  this  usage 
became  so  deeply  ingrained  that  when,  about  the  year  361, 
the  fixed  calendar  was  introduced,  nobody  felt  himself 
authorized  to  abolish  these  double  holidays.8  The  reason 
for  them  has  wholly  ceased  since  Palestine  is  connected 
by  electric  wires  with  all  parts  of  the  world.  For  if  there 
were  a  Sanhedrin  or  Patriarch  now  to  proclaim  the  new 


62         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

moon,  the  Jews  of  Chicago  or  Melbourne  would  know  its 
true  date  within  the  next  twelve  hours. 

Besides  the  Festivals  and  New  Moons  mentioned  in  the 
Law,  we  find  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible  a  reference  to  cer- 
tain other  days.  First,  Purim,  or  the  Feast  of  Esther,  on  the 
i4th  of  Adar,  in  lengthened  years  on  the  same  day  of  the 
second  Adar.  Second,  the  four  Fasts  for  commemorating 
sad  events  in  the  downfall  of  the  first  Jewish  Common- 
wealth, that  is,  the  loth  of  Tebeth,  when  Nebuchadnezzar 
began  the  siege  of  Jerusalem;  a  day  in  Tammuz,  when  he 
entered  the  city  through  a  breach,  which  has  been  fixed  on 
the  I7th  of  that  month,  i.  e.,  on  the  same  day  on  which  Titus 
entered  at  the  downfall  of  the  last  Commonwealth;  the  day 
in  Ab  when  Nebuchadnezzar  destroyed  the  first  Temple, 
now  fixed  on  the  gth  of  Ab,  when  the  Romans  burnt  the 
last  Temple;  and  the  third  of  Tishri,  when  Gedaliah,  the 
prince  of  the  House  of  David,  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  left 
as  governor  of  the  remnant  of  Jews  in  Judea,  was  murdered, 
and  the  last  trace  of  the  first  Commonwealth  was  wiped  out. 
•  Lastly  the  calendar  gives  us  the  eight  days  of  the  Feast 
of.  Maccabees,  or  Hanucca,  beginning  on  the  25th  of  Kislev. 

It  remains  for  us  to  speak  of  the  Jewish  era.  In  the 
Books  of  Maccabees  we  find  all  dates  fixed  by  the  Era  of 
Seleucus.  This  was  still  used  for  historic  dates  by  the  lead- 
ing Rabbis  in  Babylonia  late  in  the  tenth  century.  For 
dating  documents  the  Mishna  requires  the  year  of  the  reign, 
meaning  that  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  and  for  Eastern 
countries  that  of  the  Kings  of  Parthia;  but  it  became  after- 
wards the  custom  to  date  all  documents  by  the  Era  of 
Seleucus,  which  thus  became  known  as  the  "year  of  deeds." 
But  when  Jehuda  Hallevi  wrote  his  Cuzari  about  the  year 
1140,  he  speaks  of  the  Year  of  the  World  (then  4900)  as 
something  in  common  use  among  the  Jews,  and  claims  that 
they  reckoned  already  by  it  in  the  year  4500,  in  which  he 
lays  the  story  which  is  made  the  vehicle  of  his  teaching. 
It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  this  mode  of  counting  years  could 


THE  CALENDAR  63 

not  have  been  a  new  thing  with  Jehuda  Hallevi's  contem- 
poraries.9 At  what  particular  time  it  was  first  suggested 
or  introduced,  and  when  it  displaced  the  other  Era  (which 
survived  in  Arabia  long  after  Jehuda  Hallevi's  days)  cannot 
be  ascertained.  It  is  said  that  the  Year  of  the  World  is 
found  earliest  on  epitaphs  in  Italy.  The  Jews  of  Yemen 
reckon  by  the  "year  of  deeds"  to  this  day.10 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    SYNAGOGUE    AND    ITS    FUNCTIONARIES 

THE  first  Jewish  Commonwealth,  which  came  to  its  sad 
end  when  Nebuchadnezzar  destroyed  Jerusalem,  seems  to 
have  known  no  such  institution  as  the  Synagogue,  though 
there  must  have  been  even  in  it  some  public  worship  of 
song  and  prayer,  both  in  the  Temple  and  outside  of  it.  The 
beginning  of  the  Synagogue  as  a  place,  not  only  for  wor- 
ship, but  also  for  instruction  and  edification,  is  shown  in 
the  eighth  chapter  of  Nehemiah,  when  Ezra  read  the  Law  of 
Moses  to  the  assembled  people,  men,  women,  and  children 
old  enough  to  understand;  he  and  the  other  chiefs  of  the 
community  standing  upon  a  wooden  turret,  and  the 
hearers  surrounding  them  upon  all  sides.  That  wooden  tur- 
ret survives  in  our  times  in  the  platform  with  the  reading 
desk  upon  it.  The  late  Hebrew  word  for  the  platform  is 
Bima,  derived  from  the  Greek  Bcma,  the  tribune  from  which 
speakers  address  the  public.  It  is  in  Germany  and  Austria 
generally  known  by  the  Arabic  name  Almcmbar  (pulpit), 
corrupted  into  Alcmmcr.  This  platform  should  stand  in 
the  middle  of  the  Synagogue,  after  the  pattern  of  Ezra's 
turret;  but  in  all  more  or  less  modernized  German  Syna- 
gogues it  has  been  pushed  forward  to  the  "Ark."1 

The  Talmudic  tradition  traces  the  Synagogue  as  a  place 
for  reading  the  Law  at  stated  times  (say  every  Sabbath, 
Monday,  and  Thursday)  back  to  Ezra  in  an  unbroken  line. 
But  this  is  hardly  possible.  The  Book  of  Chronicles,  writ- 
ten long  after  Ezra,  which  carries  some  of  the  genealo- 
gies down  for  over  a  hundred  years  after  him,  nowhere 
alludes  either  to  the  place  or  to  the  weekly  readings. 

(64) 


THE  SYNAGOGUE  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONARIES  65 

Some  of  the  later  Psalms,  especially  Ps.  119,  may  possibly 
allude  to  frequent  readings  from  the  Law,  but  hardly  to 
any  consecrated  places  other  than  the  Temple  and  its  court- 
yard, which  in  a  sense  might  be  called  a  Synagogue.2 

The  Greek  name  of  the  Jewish  house  of  worship  means 
simply  a  meeting;  it  is  but  a  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Beth 
ha-Kenescth,  the  House  of  Meeting.  Not  only  is  the  word 
foreign  to  the  latest  Biblical  books,  but  also  to  the  older 
works  among  the  Apocrypha,  such  as  Ecclesiasticus  and 
Maccabees.  But  in  these  latter  books  (e.  g.,  i  Mace. 
12:  n)  we  find  the  Greek  word  Proseuchc  (house  of  prayer) 
as  a  place  of  devotion  other  than  the  Temple.  It  seems 
probable  that  the  new  word  Synagogue,  with  its  wider 
meaning,  came  into  use  when  other  exercises  were  added 
to  prayer.  At  any  rate,  in  the  Gospels  we  find  this  new  word 
in  full  and  exclusive  use  for  all  houses  of  worship  outside 
of  the  Temple,  and  these  are  already  so  numerous,  being 
found  in  all  the  villages,  that  the  institution  cannot  have 
been  recent  at  that  time.  In  the  Synagogues  of  Galilee,  as 
the  Gospels  relate,  lessons  were  read  from  the  Prophets, 
and  persons  of  learning  and  piety  were  expected  to  preach 
on  the  lesson;  it  is  very  evident  that  there  was  also  prayer 
and  readings  from  the  Law;  in  short,  all  the  elements  from 
which  the  exercises  of  the  modern  Synagogue  are  made  up. 

The  "Ark,"  called  in  the  Mishna  Tcba,  i.  e.,  box,  chest, 
but  in  modern  Hebrew  Aron,  like  the  Ark  of  the  Cov- 
enant, whose  place  it  has  taken,  is  a  press  or  wall  closet 
in  which  the  Scrolls  of  the  Pentateuch  are  kept  stand- 
ing upright.  It  is  placed  slightly  above  the  floor  of  the 
nave,  and  is  reached  by  steps.  The  Ark  is  set  in  or  against 
that  wall  of  the  Synagogue  towards  which  the  worshippers 
turn,  at  least  in  that  part  of  their  devotions  known  more 
especially  as  the  Prayer.  The  leader,  who  reads  the  liturgy 
aloud,  stands  in  the  same  direction  as  the  people.  He  does 
not  address  them,  but  is  their  messenger,  or  representative. 
The  wall  in  or  against  which  the  Ark  stands  is  in  the 

5 


66         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

direction  of  Jerusalem,  according  to  the  request  of  King 
Solomon,  that  the  people  of  Israel  may  pray  "towards  this 
place,"  the  Temple  which  he  built.  Hence  in  Europe  and 
America  the  Ark  stands  towards  the  East,  but  no  attempt 
is  ever  made  to  strike  the  exact  point  of  the  compass,  as 
the  Moslems  do  when  turning  towards  Mecca.3 

Before  the  Ark  is  a  heavy  curtain,  which  is  named  after 
the  curtain  which,  in  the  Tent  of  Meeting  and  in  the 
Temple,  screened  the  Holy  of  Holies. 

The  Scfer  Tora  (Book  of  the  Law)  is  a  parchment  scroll 
in  which  the  whole  Pentateuch  is  written  by  hand  upon 
calfskin  or  sheepskin,  with  an  ink  made  of  lamp-black,  in 
the  Hebrew  text  and  in  the  so-called  square  or  Assyrian 
character,4  without  vowel  points,  accents,  or  verse  divisions; 
but  the  paragraphs  are  marked  according  to  the  Masora,  or 
tradition  of  the  text,  some  by  starting  on  a  new  line,  some 
by  leaving  a  shorter  or  longer  blank  in  the  same  line.  The 
scroll  is  mounted  on  wooden  rollers,  is  first  wrapped  in  a 
white  band,  and  then  encased  in  a  silk  or  velvet  robe.  A 
silver  hand  for  pointing  is  hung  by  a  cord  or  chain;  often 
silver  ornaments  are  placed  on  the  heads  of  the  rollers. 
Every  Synagogue  of  any  pretensions  has  three  or  more 
scrolls  of  its  own. 

According  to  the  best  approved  usage  the  leader  in 
prayer  does  not  stand  on  the  platform  from  which  the  Law 
is  read,  but  in  a  low  place  near  by  the  Ark,  according  to 
Ps.  130:  i:  "From  the  depths  have  I  cried  unto  thee."  In 
olden  times  the  leader  "went  down  before  the  Ark"  only 
when  the  Prayer  in  the  narrower  sense  (see  Book  II,  ch.  i) 
was  reached.5 

The  Lessons  from  Law  and  Prophets  are  read  from  the 
platform,  the  scroll  or  book  of  Prophets  being  laid  on  the 
desk  (Shulhan,  i.  e.,  table).  The  preacher  usually  stands  en 
the  steps  before  the  Ark  with  his  back  towards  it  and  hi? 
face  towards  the  people. 

The  main  floor  is  occupied  by  men  and  boys  only;  a 


THE  SYNAGOGUE  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONARIES  67 

raised  gallery  or,  in  small  Synagogues  of  insufficient  height, 
a  side  room  is  set  aside  for  the  women.0 

Pretty  much  every  Synagogue  has  an  anteroom;  one  of 
its  uses  is  that  those  who  mourn  for  a  parent  or  other 
close  kindred  may  tarry  in  it  on  the  first  Friday  evening 
after  the  funeral  to  await  the  announcement  of  the  Sab- 
bath, when  they  are  formally  ushered  in  by  the  leader 
and  presiding  officer  with  words  of  comfort.  This  ante- 
room or  some  other  small  apartment  in  the  building  is  in 
the  larger  Synagogues  used  for  work-day  services. 

The  so-called  Temples  of  our  times  are  simply  Syna- 
gogues. The  word  Temple  for  a  Church  or  Synagogue  is 
a  misnomer,  or  at  least  a  fancy  name;  it  means  really  a  place 
of  sacrificial  worship. 

Synagogues,  unlike  Mosques  or  Catholic  churches,  were 
always  furnished  with  benches  and  chairs.7 

Near  a  Synagogue  a  Beth  Hammidrash,  or  House  of  Study, 
is  often  found,  a  room  filled  with  theological  books,  the 
Bible  and  its  commentaries,  the  Mishna,  the  Talmud,  the 
Midrash,  the  Codes,  and  whatever  else  may  be  deemed  of 
interest.  Some  of  these  rooms  are  nothing  but  reference 
libraries,  that  is,  study  is  carried  on  privately,  every  man 
poring  over  any  book  that  suits  him;  but  in  most  of  them 
the  Rabbi  holds  forth  at  stated  times,  at  least  for  an  hour 
or  so  about  sunset,  reading  and  expounding  consecutive 
parts  of  Bible,  Mishna,  or  Talmud.8 

When  ten  or  more  are  together  in  such  a  room,  and  the 
time  for  services  comes  around,  they  hold  them  in  the  Beth 
Hammidrash,  as  they  would  in  a  Synagogue,  and  this  was 
done  already  in  the  days  of  the  Talmud.  It  may  be  re- 
marked here  that  this  number  of  men  and  boys  (over  thir- 
teen years  of  age)  is  indispensable  for  public  services  with 
their  responses  and  for  the  readings  of  the  Law  and  Proph- 
ets from  the  desk. 

This  number  ten  according  to  the  Mishna  is  the  minimum 
of  the  "congregation,"  not  only  for  liturgic,  but  also  for 


68         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

political  purposes,  and  this  rule  is  probably  as  old  as  the 
institution  of  the  Synagogue.9 

It  is  the  better  opinion  that  if  nine  fully  qualified  persons 
are  present,  a  boy  under  thirteen,  but  old  enough  to  have 
some  religious  ideas,  will  do  for  the  tenth.10 

The  highest  functionary  of  a  Jewish  congregation  is  the 
Rabbi,  literally  "my  Master,"  originally,  in  the  days  of 
Jewish  independence,  a  Judge  in  civil  and  criminal  matters, 
as  well  as  an  adviser  in  religious  questions. 

Among  the  Sefardim  this  official  is  generally  known  as 
Hacham,  the  learned. 

Where  Jews  live  together  in  sufficient  numbers  to  main- 
tain a  Rabbi  or  a  Rabbinical  Court  (Beth  Din)  of  three 
Judges  (Dayanini)^  they  form  a  Congregation,  and  this  may 
worship  at  one  or  at  a  hundred  Synagogues,  big  and  little. 
Where  the  community  is  too  small  to  maintain  a  Rabbi,  it 
is  known  as  a  Jishub  (settlement),  and  is  generally  depend- 
ent upon  the  Rabbi  in  the  nearest  town.  The  establish- 
ment of  several  congregations  in  the  same  city  has  in  late 
years  often  happened  through  disagreement  between  the 
more  orthodox  and  more  progressive  or  reforming  ele- 
ments, and  in  the  eighteenth  century  already  through  the 
schism  of  the  Hasidim,  and  even  before  that  time,  as  above 
seen,  when  Jews  of  the  Sefardic  and  of  the  German  ritual 
settled  at  the  same  place  in  sufficient  numbers  of  each. 

The  title  of  Rabbi  certifies  the  recipient's  learning  in  the 
traditional  law.  It  is  conferred  by  one  or  more  Rabbis  in 
continuous  succession  by  means  of  a  Hattarath  Horaa,  a 
license  to  teach  or  rather  to  decide.  In  olden  times,  but  in 
Palestine  only,  the  succession  of  Rabbis  was  perpetuated 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  and  this  ceremony  was  thought 
to  confer  privileges  which  neither  learning  by  itself  nor  a 
written  certificate  thereof  could  impart.11 

With  the  services  of  the  Synagogue  the  Raobi  as  such 
has  nothing  to  do.  Not  being  chosen  for  his  good  voice, 
he  is  not  expected  to  read  either  the  prayers  or  lessons; 


THE  SYNAGOGUE  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONARIES  69 

he  is  indeed,  by  his  learning,  fitted  to  preach  in  the  Syna- 
gogue, but  anybody  else  who  has  sufficient  acquaintance 
with  Bible  and  Talmud  and  eloquence  enough  to  interest 
an  audience  may  preach  without  holding  the  "license  to 
teach." 

The  English  Bible  uses  the  word  "priest,"  a  corruption  of 
the  Greek  presbyteros,  literally,  an  elder,  to  translate  the 
Hebrew  Cohen,  a  sacrificer,  the  Hiereus  of  the  Septuagint 
and  Greek  Testament.  There  are  Cohanim  at  the  present 
day,  great  numbers  of  them,  who  claim  descent  from  those 
who  acted  as  such  in  the  days  of  the  Temple;  and  there  are 
Levites  claiming  descent  from  the  Levites  of  those  days. 
At  present  the  Cohen  is  not  a  functionary;  his  presence  is 
not  required,  except  to  impart  the  priestly  blessing  (Num- 
bers 6:  22-27),  which  in  modern  times  is  only  done  on  the 
Festivals,  and  a  certain  precedence  is  given  to  the  Cohen, 
and  after  him  to  the  Levite. 

The  word  Minian  (number)  designates  the  presence  of 
ten  or  more  male  Israelites  when  met  for  public  service. 
One  of  them,  as  "messenger  of  the  assembly"  (Sheliah 
Tzibbur),  reads  or  chants  the  prayers.  The  needful  qualifi- 
cations are  correct  Hebrew  reading,  understanding  the 
contents  of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  a  good  moral  and  religious 
standing.12  No  man  who  is  under  excommunication  can  act 
as  leader,  or  be  counted  of  the  ten.13 

Where  a  permanent  congregation  erects  a  Synagogue  it 
nearly  always  employs  a  man  to  read  the  services  on 
Sabbaths  and  Holidays.  Such  a  man  is  in  modern  phrase 
called  the  Hasan,  a  word  meaning  literally  "overseer" 
(whence  the  Christian  episkopos),  which  formerly,  before 
the  vowel  points  and  accents  were  placed  under  the  text  of 
Scripture,  denoted  an  official  who  held  the  traditions  as  to 
the  true  pronunciation,  and  saw  to  it  that  the  lessons  were 
correctly  read.14 

In  German  a  regular  Hazan  is  called  Vorsdngcr  or  Vor- 
bcter,  i.  e.,  leader  in  song  or  leader  in  prayer;  also  Cantor, 


jo        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

the  corresponding  Christian  title.  The  professional  Hazan 
is  chosen  with  a  view  to  a  good  voice,  musical  training, 
and  thorough  acquaintance  with  chants  and  accustomed 
tunes;  his  shortcomings  in  morals  and  religion  being  too 
often  overlooked.  In  progressive  Synagogues  he  has  to 
be  a  thoroughly  trained  vocalist,  for  he  is  the  tenor  solo  of  a 
series  of  oratorios. 

The  Hazan,  or  oftener  in  the  great  Synagogues  another 
man  with  other  qualifications,  reads  the  lesson  from  the  Pen- 
tateuch; he  is  known  as  Ba'al  Korc  (master  reader).  This 
title  is  modern ;  formerly  to  know  this  lesson  was  the  main 
duty  of  the  Hazan, or  overseer;  for  the  members  in  turn  were 
expected  to  read  parts  of  the  lesson,  while  the  Hazan 
prompted  them.  The  Ba'al  Korc  should  know  all  the  nice- 
ties of  Hebrew  grammar,  and  be  able  to  read  with  the 
proper  feeling  and  expression;  his  voice  should  be  loud  and 
clear,  so  he  may  be  readily  followed  and  understood.  But 
the  chant  prescribed  for  him  is  simple,  and  requires  for 
its  rendering  very  little  vocal  skill. 

In  olden  times,  when  everything  was  written  without 
vowel  points  and  accents,  the  reading  of  the  prophetic  les- 
son was  the  most  difficult  function,  the  style  being  more 
rugged  than  the  prose  of  the  Tora  and  less  familiar  than 
the  prayers.  Hence,  when  any  one  was  found  with  the  skill 
and  learning  to  read  the  prophetic  lessons  well,  he  would 
generally  (if  over  thirteen  years  of  age)  be  invited  to  read 
the  prayers  too;  and  it  seems  that  occasionally,  as  early  as 
Talmudic  times,  he  would  be  paid  for  the  exercise  of  his 
skill.15  Nowadays  to  read  this  lesson  is  rather  an  honor  to 
pay  for  than  a  task  to  draw  wages  for,  except  in  such  con- 
gregations in  which  few  can  read  correctly,  even  from  our 
printed  volumes  with  their  vowels  and  accents.  There  are 
still  Synagogues  in  Poland  and  elsewhere  in  which  parch- 
ment copies  of  the  Prophets  are  kept  with  the  bare  letters, 
like  the  Scrolls  of  the  Law,  and  a  permanent  official  has  to 
read  the  lessons. 


THE  SYNAGOGUE  AND  ITS  FUNCTIONARIES  71 

Every  Synagogue  has  a  lay  member  for  its  business  head, 
who  presides  at  the  services  to  preserve  order  and  to  give 
directions.  He  is  known  as  Parnas  (provider,  a  word  prob- 
ably derived  from  the  Greek  pronoos).  The  next  in  com- 
mand, or  Vice-President,  bears  the  title  of  Gabbai  (literally, 
collector).  Whoever  performs  the  duty  of  presiding  officer 
at  the  desk  upon  the  platform  is  for  the  time  being  the  Segan 
(assistant),  a  title  borne  in  the  Temple  by  one  of  the  fore- 
most priests.  The  usage  demands  that  lay  officers  of  the 
congregation  should  stand  by  the  reader  during  the  lessons 
by  way  of  respect  for  the  Law.16 

The  Parnas  commands  the  services  of  a  paid  official,  the 
Shammash,  the  same  as  the  diaconos  of  the  Acts;  he  is  sex- 
ton, beadle,  and  usher,  and  goes  all  the  errands  to  be  run 
in  the  progress  of  the  services. 


BOOK  II 

The  Devotions  of  the  Synagogue 


BOOK  II 

THE   DEVOTIONS   OF  THE   SYNAGOGUE 

CHAPTER  I 

OUTLINE  OF  THE   LITURGY 

IT  may  seem  strange  to  our  young  men  and  women,  but 
it  is  true,  that  the  devotions  of  the  Synagogue  differ  but 
slightly  from  those  which  the  law-observing  Israelite  recites 
at  his  home  when  he  does  not  attend  public  worship;  the 
difference  lying  mainly  in  the  responsive  passages  in  the 
latter,  which  are  not  fitted  for  private  worship.  It  may 
astonish  them  still  more  to  hear  that  the  services  for  the 
Sabbath  and  Holidays  are  built  up  on  the  same  plan  as 
those  for  work-days,  and  that  the  orthodox  Jew  considers 
it  just  as  wrong  to  miss  his  prayer  on  Monday  night  or 
Tuesday  morning  as  on  Friday  night  and  Sabbath  morn- 
ing.1 

The  most  important  parts  of  our  liturgy  are  two,  the 
reading  of  the  Shema  (Hear,  O  Israel)  and  the  Prayer 
proper,  or  Tcfilla,  called  by  the  Portuguese  Jews  and  those 
of  England  generally  Amida,  the  "standing,"  a  convenient 
name.  We  shall  hereafter  denote  it  either  as  Prayer,  writ- 
ten with  a  capital,  or  as  "Amida."2 

The  "Shema"  is  to  be  recited,  preferably  to  be  read,  twice 
a  day,  in  obedience  to  the  command  in  Deuteronomy 
6:  7:  "Thou  shalt  impress  them  upon  thy  children, 
and  shalt  talk  of  them,  when  thou  sittest  in  thy  house,  and 
when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  liest  down, 

(75) 


76         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

and  when  thou  risest."  A  like  command  is  found  in  Deut. 
u,  and  each  is  applied  to  the  paragraph  of  which  it  forms 
part.  Another  command  is  found  in  Deut.  16:  3:  "That 
thou  mayest  remember  the  day  when  thou  earnest  forth 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  all  the  days  of  thy  life,"  which  from 
early  times  was  understood  to  require  a  mention  of  the 
great  event  on  every  day  and  in  every  night.  ,Not  every- 
body took  these  commands  so  literally,  for  it  is  said  of  the 
saintly  R.  Judah  that  his  reading  was  confined  to  the  first 
verse,  "Hear,  O  Israel,  etc."  He  evidently  trusted  that 
in  his  studies  and  discourses  he  would  speak  sufficiently 
on  the  subjects  embraced,  and  that  recital  in  the  very  words 
of  the  Bible  was  not  necessary.3 

The  words,  "when  thou  liest  down  and  when  thou  risest," 
were,  as  far  back  as  tradition  reaches,  construed  to  be 
addressed,  not  to  the  individual,  but  to  the  nation.  Hence 
each  Israelite  may  "read"  his  Shema  for  the  night  at  any 
part  of  the  time  during  which  men  usually  go  to  bed,  and 
for  the  morning  during  the  whole  time  at  which  people 
of  any  class  rise;  and  thus  alone  public  services  could  be 
held,  of  which  the  reading  of  the  two  passages  in  the  sixth 
and  eleventh  of  Deuteronomy  and  the  mention  of  the  deliv- 
erance from  Egypt  are  the  most  weighty  parts.  The  limits 
drawn  by  the  old  standards  are  pretty  wide  for  the  reading 
at  night,  from  early  starlight  till  midnight,  for  the  morning 
service,  from  the- light  of  dawn  till  nine  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
noon.4 These  limits  were  pushed  out  even  further  with 
the  view  of  bringing  worshippers  together  in  the  House 
of  God;  that  is,  the  night  service,  except  that  which  follows 
a  Sabbath  or  Festival,  may  be  read  at  the  Synagogue  before 
starlight,  in  order  to  make  it  follow  an  afternoon  service  at 
the  same  place;  and  even  should  the  morning  Shema 
Ije  reached  after  nine  o'clock,  the  service  goes  on  never- 
theless, including  the  "benedictions"  preceding  and  follow- 
ing the  Shema.5 

The  other  main  element,  the  Prayer,  or  Amida,  is  known 


OUTLINE  OF  THE  LITURGY 


77 


among  the  Jews  of  the  German  and  Polish  Minhag  as  the 
Shemone  Esrc,  or  Eighteen,  a  name,  as  will  be  shown,  not 
quite  appropriate.6  This  Prayer  contains,  not  only  peti- 
tions for  Divine  grace  and  help,  but  praise  and  thanks  as 
well.  It  is  intended  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  a  pious  heart 
for  communion  with  God  and  at  the  same  time  the  com- 
mand of  the  Law  that  we  should  serve  God,  and  its  assump- 
tion that  we  will  serve  him  with  all  our  heart  and  with  all 
our  soul.7  But  the  Pentateuch  nowhere  intimates  how 
many  times  the  Israelite  should  pray,  or  what  he  should 
have  to  say.  The  forms  now  in  use  took  their  rise  under 
the  men  of  the  Great  Synod.  One  reason  assigned  for  their 
work  is  the  decay  of  the  Hebrew  language,  the  inability  of 
the  people  and  perhaps  even  of  priests  and  preachers  to 
pour  out  from  their  hearts  well-worded  devotions  in  that 
tongue,  and  the  resulting  need  for  set  forms  of  prayers,  in 
which  all  could  unite,  which  all  would  soon  know  by  heart, 
and  then  repeat  even  in  private.8 

In  Psalm  55,  written  probably  after  the  institution  of  the 
regular  Prayer,  the  righteous  man  declares,  "evening, 
morning,  and  at  noon-day  will  I  complain,  and  moan,  and 
he  shall  hear  my  voice;"  and  this  praying  thrice  a  day  is 
found  also  in  Daniel  as  a  custom  which  the  Israelite  cannot 
forego  without  incurring  the  guilt  of  impiety.9 

Of  the  three  daily  Prayers,  two  are  joined  to  the  reading 
of  the  Shema,  following  upon  it  both  in  the  night  (or  even- 
ing) and  in  the  morning  service;  the  third  is  recited  in  the 
afternoon,  and  is  known  as  Minha,  literally,  a  gift,  thence 
the  meal-offering,  the  name  being  suggested  by  the  pass- 
age in  i  Kings  18:  29,  where  Elijah  prays  in  the  afternoon 
at  the  time  of  the  "evening  oblation."  The  Prayer  in  the 
morning  and  that  for  the  afternoon,  or  Minha,  are  deemed 
more  obligatory  than  that  in  .the  night  service,  for  the  two 
former  correspond  in  point  of  time  to  the  daily  sacrifice  in 
the  Temple,  and  by  reciting  them  the  worshipper  complies 
in  spirit  with  the  words  of  the  Prophet  Hosea  (14:  3):  "We 


78         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

shall  render  as  bullocks  (the  offering  of)  our  lips."  The 
Prayer  in  the  evening  is  not  demanded  as  a  duty,  and 
though  law-observing  Jews  will  not  miss  it  any  more  lightly 
than  the  two  others,  there  is  yet  the  broad  practical  dis- 
tinction, that  in  public  service  the  morning  and  afternoon 
Prayers  are  repeated  by  the  leader,  or  Cantor,  while  the 
evening  Prayer  is  not  repeated.10 

The  accounts  in  Daniel  and  in  Psalm  55  present  one 
man  in  solitude  uttering  his  Prayer,  but  the  Mishna  shows 
that  some  of  its  benedictions  were  publicly  recited  in  the 
Temple,  and  it  often  refers  to  a  leader  reciting  it  before 
an  audience.  It  seems  that  any  one  could  say  his  Prayer 
privately,  but  when  a  sufficient  number  met,  one  would 
lead  and  the  others  listen.  But  there  is  the  custom, 
fully  established  in  the  times  of  the  Palestinian  Talmud, 
that  in  the  Synagogue  everybody  says  his  Prayer  silently, 
and  that  the  leader  repeats  it  aloud.  The  reason  given  is 
that  he  must  thus  relieve  those  unable  to  recite  the  Prayer 
of  their  duty;  but  this  does  not  fully  explain  why  the  others 
should  first  speak  it  in  low  tones,  unless  to  the  end  that 
each  may  add  his  own  heart-felt  supplications.11 

When  time  presses,  e.  g.,  when  night-fall  is  too  near  for 
finishing  the  afternoon  service,  the  leader  begins  the  Prayer 
aloud  with  the  rest  and  recites  three  benedictions,  then  all 
proceed  silently.  Some  congregations,  otherwise  carefully 
observant  of  the  old  forms,  act  thus  regularly  with  the 
"Additional  Prayer,"  as  to  which  many  of  the  old  Sages 
held,  that  it  is  fitted  only  for  public  worship  ("town  com- 
pany" they  call  it),  and  this  view  would  justify  such  a 
shortening. 

As  to  this  service  it  should  be  remarked  that,  as  the 
Prayer  takes  the  place  of  the  communal  sacrifice,  on  those 
days  for  which  the  law  prescribes  additional  offerings,  there 
is  another  Prayer  "added"  (Musaf}  after  the  morning 
Prayer  and  before  that  for  the  afternoon;  in  most  places 
right  after  the  former,  without  any  intermission  beside  the 


OUTLINE  OF  THE  LITURGY 


79 


"lessons"  for  the  day.12  But  in  many  Synagogues  of  Austria 
and  Hungary,  and  in  Western  Asia  also,  the  true  morning 
service  for  the  Sabbath  is  held  at  a  very  early  hour,  at  six 
or  seven;  the  worshipper  then  goes  home,  takes  breakfast, 
and  comes  back  at  ten  o'clock  for  the  "lessons,"  for  the 
sermon,  and  for  Musaf.  This  is  correct,  for  it  is  a  leading 
Jewish  principle  that  whatever  duty  can  be  performed 
at  break  of  day  should  be  performed  before  the  morn- 
ing meal  and  before  any  business  or  pleasure  is  entered 
on;  and  this  principle  applies  most  strongly  to  the  Reading 
of  the  Shema  "when  thou  risest."13 

Thus  there  are  three  Prayers  on  work-days;  that  for  the 
afternoon  can  be  joined  with  the  Reading  of  the  Shema 
and  Prayer  for  the  following  night  into  one  continuous 
service;  there  are  four  for  Sabbaths,  New  Moons,  and  Fes- 
tivals, generally  making  three  distinct  services,  and  there  is 
a  fifth  Prayer  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  known  as  Ne'ila,  the 
"door-closing,"  which  is  begun  shortly  before  sunset.14 

The  morning  service  has  been  much  lengthened  beyond 
the  two  essential  elements  above  named.  It  begins  (leaving 
out  one  or  two  poems)  with  benedictions  and  prayers  which 
express  a  devout  man's  feelings  when  he  has  risen  from  bed, 
and  has  cleansed  and  dressed  himself,  and  which  were  really 
intended  for  the  home;15  then  come  passages  from  Penta- 
teuch, Mishna,  and  Bara'itha  as  a  minimum  of  study;  then 
the  "hymns,"  Psalms,  and  other  Bible  poetry  with  befitting 
benedictions;  the  two  essential  elements  named  come  next; 
then  on  New  Moons,  on  the  three  Festivals,  and  on 
Hanucca  the  "Psalms  of  Praise;"  then  the  lesson  or  lessons. 
There  are  other  accretions  towards  the  end  of  the  morning 
or  of  the  "additional"  service,  but  few  in  the  afternoon  and 
evening.  One  of  these  is  the  recital,  thrice  a  day,  of  Psalm 
145,  on  which  the  Talmud  lays  great  stress,  first  as  one  of 
the  morning  hymns,  again  after  the  morning  Prayer,  and 
again  in  the  afternoon,  when  it  and  the  Amida  make  up,  in 
the  main,  the  Minha  service,16 


8o         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  question  as  to  the  order  of  the  evening-  service, 
whether  the  Prayer  is  to  precede  or  follow  the  Shema,  was 
still  in  dispute  in  the  third  century;  some  insisted  that  the 
latter  should  be  last  and  thus  nearest  to  bed-time.  The  pre- 
vailing usage  was  probably  always  the  same  as  it  is  now,  so 
as  to  give  to  the  morning  and  evening  services  a  similar 
structure.17 

We  do  not  speak  here  of  the  responses,  as  their  place 
and  nature  cannot  be  understood  before  the  material 
which  the  home  has  in  common  with  the  Synagogue  is 
fully  explained.  We  may  here  speak  of  the  persistence  of 
new  elements  when  once  introduced  into  the  service  on  any 
ground.  Abudraham,  writing  in  Spain  early  in  the  four- 
teenth century,  says  of  the  abstract  of  the  Prayer  which  the 
leader  chants  in  the  Friday  night  service  after  the  congrega- 
tion have  silently  read  the  full  text:  It  was  introduced  in 
Babylonia,  when  most  houses  of  worship  were  in  the  fields, 
lest  those  coming  late  would  have  to  walk  home  alone,  for 
while  the  leader  chants  it,  they  can  catch  up  'and  then  go 
home,  free  from  danger,  in  company.  With  us,  who  live 
and  worship  in  towns,  there  is  no  danger  in  walking  alone, 
but  the  custom  of  our  fathers  remains  with  us.  And  about 
the  Kiddush  (Sanctification)  made  on  Friday  night  over 
the  wine  cup  in  the  Synagogue  he  says:  It  is  really  im- 
proper, for  the  Sabbath  must  (quoting  the  Talmudic  saying) 
be  consecrated  only  at  the  supper  table,  and  he  quotes  R. 
Ilai,  the  last  Gaon,  that  is,  the  last  man  who  spoke  with 
authority  to  all  Israel,  in  reproof  of  the  custom,  which 
arose  at  a  time  when  a  room  was  usually  attached  to  the 
Synagogue  for  lodging  and  feeding  travellers  on  the  Sab- 
bath, so  that  they  might  hear  the  Sanctification  over  the 
cup  of  wine.  He  says  the  reason  has  ceased;  we  no  longer 
lodge  travellers  in  the  Synagogue  building;  "yet,  as  our  pre- 
decessors have  set  up  the  rule,  though  for  a  reason  which 
no  longer  exists,  the  rule  remains  unshaken."18 

As  matters  thus  stand,  with  all  the  old  and  new  elements, 


OUTLINE  OP   THE  LITURGY  8 1 

the  work-day  service,  except  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays, 
including  responses  and  the  repetition  of  the  Prayer  by  the 
leader,  is  gone  through  with  without  undue  hurry  in  about 
forty-five  minutes;  on  New  Moons,  including  Musaf,  in 
about  an  hour.  The  afternoon  service  on  work-days  takes 
at  most  ten  minutes,  the  evening  service  fifteen  minutes  or 
less. 

On  Sabbaths  and  Festivals,  even  without  preaching,  more 
time  is  required,  first,  on  account  of  the  longer  "lessons" 
and  additional  Psalms  in  the  liturgy;  secondly,  because  the 
leader,  with  or  without  a  choir,  will  give  free  rein  to  his 
musical  tastes,  seeing  that  his  hearers  are  not  supposed  to 
have  any  other  business  on  hand  than  to  enjoy  the  glad 
and  solemn  service. 

In  a  very  few  parts  the  liturgy  has  in  late  centuries 
been  shortened  by  the  omission  of  redundant  matter.  We 
shall  be  so  much  occupied  with  an  analysis  of  the  Prayer 
Books  of  the  present  day  and  the  history  of  their  gradual 
growth  that  we  will  be  unable  to  give  much  time  and  space 
to  an  account  of  such  parts  of  the  liturgy  as  have  been  dis- 
carded in  the  orthodox  rituals  of  our  time. 

One  class  of  services  has  fallen  into  disuse  since  Talmudic 
days,  or  is  now  attended  only  by  those  of  avowedly  ascetic 
habits.  These  are  the  Watches,  or  Posts  (Ma'amadoth,  lit- 
erally, "stands"),  growing  out  of  the  public  fasts  which,  dur- 
ing the  days  of  the  Temple  and  for  some  centuries  there- 
after, were  called  by  the  spiritual  chiefs  in  the  time  of  dis- 
tressing drought,  yet  distinct  from  them.  The  liturgy  for 
those  fasts,  which  are  now  quite  obsolete,  is  minutely  set 
forth  in  the  Mishna.  The  Ma'amadoth  are  given  pretty  fully 
in  the  oldest  "Arrangements"  and  in  some  modern  prayer 
books,  but  they  are  not  deemed  at  present,  even  among  the 
most  orthodox,  of  universal  obligation,  and  therefore  lie  out 
of  the  province  of  this  volume.19 


CHAPTER  II 

SOURCE  AND  STYLE 

A  GREAT  part  of  the  services  is  made  up  of  entire  Psalms 
or  other  long  passages  of  Scripture,  such  as  the  Red  Sea 
Song  (Ex.  15);  another  considerable  part,  of  single  verses, 
culled  from  different  books  and  chapters;  thus,  the  verses 
sung  in  German  congregations  at  the  return  of  the  Scroll  to 
the  Ark  are  taken  from  Numbers,  from  the  Psalms,  from 
Proverbs,  and  from  Lamentations.  Sometimes  a  verse  will 
be  found  intertwined  in  a  non-Biblical  composition  as  if  it 
were  a  part  thereof,  or  changed  only  by  turning  the  first 
person  singular  into  the  first  person  plural,  in  which,  as  a 
rule,  all  the  prayers  are  composed;  as  Jeremiah's  verse, 
"Heal  me,  O  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  healed,  save  me  and  I 
shall  be  saved,  for  thou  art  my  glory,"  becomes,  in  one  of 
the  Eighteen,  "Heal  us,  O  Lord,"  or  by  turning  prom- 
ise into  request,  as  Isaiah's  prophecy,  "I  will  restore  thy 
judges  as  of  old,  and  thy  counsellors  as  at  the  beginning," 
becomes  "Restore  our  judges."  Oftener  a  verse  is  quoted 
with  an  introductory,  "it  is  said,"  or  "it  is  written,"  as  a 
foundation  of  our  hopes,  or  as  a  reason  for  what  we  say 
or  do;  thus,  in  the  after-dinner  grace,  "For  all  this  may  Thy 
name  be  blessed,  etc.,  as  it  is  written  (Dent.  8:  10),  Thou 
shalt  eat  and  be  full,  and  shalt  bless  the  Lord,  thy  God,  for 
the  good  land  which  he  hath  given  thee." 

J>ut,  leaving  aside  whole  chapters  or  whole  verses,  a  set 
purpose  can  be  seen  in  the  earlier  compositions  to  keep  close 
to  the  spirit  and  to  the  very  words  of  Scripture.  Thus,  where 
a  benediction  begins,  "Thou  hast  loved  thy  people,  the  house 
of  Israel,  with  everlasting  love,"  it  is  an  echo  of  Jeremiah's 

(82) 


SO  URCE  A  ND  S  Tl  'L  E  83 

words  (31: -3):  "I  have  loved  thee  with  an  everlasting 
love;"  and  when,  a  few  lines  further  on,  we  declare  that  "we 
meditate  on  them  (the  words  of  the  Law)  by  day  and  by 
night,"  it  is  only  because  it  is  written  that  the  righteous 
man  "meditates  by  day  and  by  night"  (Ps.  i:  2;  cmp. 
Josh,  i:  6).  We  shall,  wherever  it  is  of  interest,  point  out 
the  Scriptural  materials  from  which  the  prayers  are  com- 
pounded like  mosaic  work;  it  would  be  a  waste  of  space 
to  go  through  the  whole  service  book,  tracing  each  phrase 
to  its  original.  It  was  done  by  Abudraham  in  the  fourteenth 
century  so  fully  and  patiently  that  he  frankly  says  of  every 
expression  which  he  cannot  trace,  "this  is  the  language  of 
the  Sages." 

The  devotions  that  are  not  taken  bodily  from  Scripture 
are  almost  always  drawn  up  in  the  first  person  plural,  the 
"we"  standing  for  all  Israel,1  and  the  people  are  always 
called  by  that  name,  never  Jews.  Jerusalem  or  Zion  is  men- 
tioned only  as  a  place,  not  as  the  embodiment  of  the  nation. 
It  will  be  seen  that  in  some  passages  we  are  taught  to  pray 
for  the  welfare  of  mankind,  especially  that  all  may  be 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  One  God,  and  we  are 
made  to  acknowledge  God's  kindness  to  all  flesh. 

The  names  given  to  the  Supreme  Being  in  the  older 
prayers  are  the  same  that  are  used  in  the  Bible;  no 
wonder,  as  these  compositions  are  as  old  as  many  of  the 
Psalms,  or  older.  But  later  on  we  meet  with  the  para- 
phrase, "The  Holy  One  blessed  be  He,"  which  the  Rab- 
binic schools  employed  in  order  not  to  pronounce  a  real 
Name  too  lightly  or  too  often,  and  occasionally  with  a  very 
distant  circumlocution  for  God,  "the  Place"  (ham-Makom), 
as  to  the  origin  of  which  Hebrew  scholars  are  very  much 
in  the  dark.2  We  also  meet  in  our  liturgy,  "our  Father 
who  (art)  in  heaven;"  oftener,  "our  Father  and  King,"  and 
in  one  composition  we  praise  and  pray  to  "the  Merciful" 
by  a  half  Aramaic  name  (ha-Rahaman),  which  has  been 
borrowed  by  Mohammed,  and  plays  a  great  part  in  the 


84          JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

chapter  headings  of  the  Koran.3  We  also  find  "the  King 
of  kings,"  an  appellation  suggested  by  Daniel. 

The  "four-lettered"  Name  was  not  sounded  by  the  Jews 
as  written  (Yod  He  Vav  He),  but  was  read  Adonai  (in  Gali- 
lee Adounoy)  i.  e.,  the  Lord,  even  before  the  Maccabean 
wars.  (Where  it  is  preceded  by  the  name  Adonai  the  un- 
speakable Name  is  read  Elohim,  and  our  version  says,  "the 
Lord  God.")  The  Greek  version,  made  in  part  in  the  third 
century  before  the  Christian  era,  turns  the  Name  regularly 
into  ho  Kyrios,  the  Vulgate  says  Dominns,  the  Syriac  version 
Morio,  all  according  to  the  pronunciation,  not  according  to 
the  spelling.  But  in  the  Temple,  till  its  destruction  by 
Titus,  the  High  Priest  in  the  three  confessions  of  sin  on  the 
Day  of  Atonement  pronounced  the  Name  as  written.  The 
common  priests  did  the  same  in  blessing  the  people  in  the 
words  of  Numbers  6:  24-26,  at  least  in  the  Temple,  for  they 
were  bidden  to  do  so:  "They  shall  place  my  name  on  the 
children  of  Israel  and  I  shall  bless  them."  But  outside  of 
the  Temple,  in  the  Synagogues  even  of  the  Holy  Land,  they 
ceased  doing  so  long  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  being 
persuaded  of  their  unworthiness  to  utter  the  great  Name 
except  under  the  most  solemn  command. 

At  any  rate,  before  the  redaction  of  the  Mishna  it  was 
deemed  impious  even  to  think  of  the  sound  of  the  four  let- 
ters, probably  because  adepts  in  the  secret  lore  claimed  that 
by  correctly  sounding  and  properly  thinking  the  Name  they 
could  work  miracles,  not  always  of  mercy,  and  thus  it  was 
thought  best  that  the  true  vowelling  of  the  Name  should 
be  forgotten.4  The  vowels  put  under  and  over  the  letters  in 
our  Hebrew  Bibles  are  those  of  Adonai  or,  in  the  excep- 
tional case,  of  Elohim. 

The  Name  as  written  is  now  never  heard  in  a  Jewish  Syna- 
gogue, except  in  the  sermon  of  a  very  modern  preacher. 

The  Hebrew  of  the  older  compositions  differs  but  little 
from  that  of  the  Bible;  some  of  the  later  ones  fall  more  or 
less  into  the  jargon  of  the  Mishna,  while  in  others  a  pure 


SO  URCE  A ND .  S TYLE  85 

Biblical  Hebrew,  with  its  older  grammatical  forms,  is  intro- 
duced, not  as  a  living,  but  as  a  learned  tongue.  The  few 
Aramaic  or  half- Aramaic  pieces  will  be  noticed  separately. 

We  must  here  explain  the  Benediction  (Beracha),  which 
is  the  unit  of  the  older  non-Biblical  parts  of  the  service.  The 
word  may  mean  a  blessing  bestowed  on  man  by  God,  or 
asked  from  him,  but  in  the  law  of  the  liturgy  it  denotes  a 
devout  passage  which  opens,  or  the  closing  sentence  of 
which  opens:  Blessed  (be)  Thou,  O  Lord.  The  formula 
grew  up  in  the  Temple  (see  I  Chron.  29:  10),  "Wherefore 
David  blessed  the  Lord  before  the  whole  Congregation, 
and  David  said:  Blessed  be  Thou,  O  Lord,  God  of  Israel, 
our  Father,  from  everlasting  to  everlasting."  According  to 
the  Mishna,  at  the  service  in  the  Temple  Court,  all  benedic- 
tions before  any  special  thanks  or  praise  proceeded,  "God 
of  Israel,  from  everlasting,"  till  the  words  "unto  everlast- 
ing" were  added  to  confute  heretics  who  said  there  is  only 
one  world  ('Olam,  everlasting,  came  later  on  to  mean  also 
world).5 

Outside  of  the  Temple  the  words,  "Blessed  (be)  Thou,  O 
Lord,"  alone  characterized  the  benediction.  When  they 
stood  at  the  beginning  of  a  piece,  the  further  words,  "Our 
God,  King  of  the  world,"  were  added,  except  in  the  oldest 
and  most  important  benediction,  the  first  of  the  Prayer,  in 
which  "King  of  the  world"  is  not  found,  probably  because 
at  the  time  of  its  composition  these  words  had  not  yet  come 
into  vogue.  When  a  number  of  benedictions  are  strung 
together,  as  in  the  Prayer,  the  first  alone  has  the  charac- 
teristic words  at  the  beginning  and  again  in  a  short  con- 
cluding sentence,  while  the  following  have  them  only  in 
such  sentence  at  the  end.  Thus  the  first  benediction  of 
the  Prayer  opens:  "Blessed  be  Thou,  O  Lord,  our  God, 
and  God  of  our  fathers,"  and  closes,  "Blessed  be  Thou, 
O  Lord,  shield  of  Abraham."  But  the  second  benedic- 
tion opens,  "Thou  art  mighty,"  and  gains  its  character 


86         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

only  from  the  closing  words,  "Blessed  be  Thou,  O  Lord, 
who  reviveth  the  dead."6 

There  are  many  short  benedictions  for  things  enjoyed 
or  by  way  of  thanks  for  the  merit  of  doing  a  religious  act 
which  have  the  characteristic  words  only  at  the  beginning, 
e.  g.,  that  before  eating  bread:  "Blessed  be  Thou,  O  Lord, 
our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  bringest  bread  forth  from 
the  earth."7 

Such  sanctity  is  ascribed  to  the  "benediction"  in  this 
sense,  that  it  is  deemed  a  profanation  of  God's  name  to 
pronounce  one  that  for  any  reason  is  not  obligatory.  Ex- 
cepting the  grace  after  meals,  which  is  of  Scriptural  obliga- 
tion, if  you  are  in  doubt  whether  you  have  already  recited 
one  of  the  prescribed  benedictions,  do  not  say  it  again,  for 
the  obligation  is  only  Rabbinical,  and  it  is  worse  to  say  a 
benediction  twice  than  not  at  all.8 

The  Rabbis  who,  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  lay  down 
such  a  principle,  disable  not  only  their  successors  but  them- 
selves from  drawing  up  any  new  benedictions,  though  they 
may  lengthen  the  old  ones  by  the  insertion  of  new  matter. 
In  fact,  the  two  or  three  benedictions  which  cannot  be 
traced  back  to  the  days  of  the  Mishna  or  to  the  next  hun- 
dred years  following  its  completion  have  never  received 
the  full  and  undivided  assent  of  all  sections  of  the  Jewish 
people. 

In  putting  most  of  the  benedictions  into  English  there  is 
a  peculiar  difficulty.  They  start  with  the  second  person, 
"Illessed  be  thou,"  and  almost  invariably  pass  into  the  third. 
I '"or  instance,  "Blessed  be  thou,  etc.,  who  by  his  word 
darkeneth  the  evenings."  The  verb,  it  is  true,  is  in  the 
original  a  participle,  as  if  we  said,  "the  darkener  of  the  even- 
ings," but  the  pronoun  Ins  is  there  explicitly.  This  apology 
must  be  given  beforehand  for  our  shortcomings  in  this 
respect.  To  turn  all  the  pronouns  and  forms  of  the  third 
into  those  of  the  second  person  is  hardly  feasible;  the  writer 


SOURCE  AND  STYLE  87 

has  tried  it  as  far  as  he  could,  but  in  a  few  benedictions  he 
has  let  the  third  person  stand  as  in  the  original. 

From  the  tone  in  which  the  Talmud  speaks  of  the  services, 
it  appears  that  the  outline  was  fixed  long  before  the  filling 
up  of  the  several  benedictions.  The  leader  had  much  dis- 
cretion when  he  prayed  aloud  for  the  congregation.  The 
individual  worshipper  was  expected,  at  least  in  the 
Prayer,  to  insert  his  own  petitions  according  to  his  wants.9 
And  besides  this  testimony  of  the  dead,  we  have  the 
living  evidence  before  us  that  the  general  contents  of 
the  benedictions  and  the  closing  words  of  each  are  the  same 
in  the  Sefardic  and  in  the  German  Ritual,  but  the  words  of 
request  which  precede  the  close,  or  "sealing,"  nearly  always 
differ  more  or  less.  It  follows  that  the  contents  of  a  bene- 
diction will  generally  throw  but  little  light  on  the  true  time 
when  it  was  first  introduced.  Thus,  a  benediction  in  which 
the  speedy  advent  of  the  Messiah  is  prayed  for  may  have 
been  used  before  a  coming  Messiah  was  thought  of,  for  it 
closes,  "Blessed  be,  etc.,  .who  causes  salvation  to  grow,"  a 
sentiment  to  which  no  one  could  ever  object. 

Another  formula,  not  nearly  so  important  or  sacred  or 
old  as  the  benediction,  should  be  mentioned,  the  petition 
opening  with  the  words,  "Be  it  thy  will  (literally,  the 
will  be  before  thee),  our  (or  'my')  God  and  God  of  our 
('my')  fathers,  that,  etc."  It  is  not  found  in  the  oldest  and 
most  obligatory  devotions.  The  modern  Cabbalists  use  it 
very  freely.10  A  petition  beginning,  "Be  it  thy  will,"  is 
sometimes  made  part  of  a  benediction,  though  never  in  the 
oldest  and  simplest  form  of  the  older  benedictions. 

The  Mishna  and  Talmud  refer  to  many  benedictions  and 
other  devotions  by  the  first  two  or  three  words,  thus  indi- 
cating tnat  the  compositions  were  already  in  common  use, 
and  would  be  recognized  by  such  short  reference.11  The 
short  benedictions  before  enjoyment  or  before  the  perform- 
ance of  some  duty  are  always  given  in  full,  yet  many  of  these 
must  have  been  in  common  use  long  before,  and  mention 


88         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

is  made  only  to  clear  up  some  fine  point  in  the  wording  or 
some  casuistry  about  the  occasion  on  which  the  benedic- 
tion should  be  spoken.  Some  of  the  longer  prayers  given 
in  full  and  recommended  by  this  or  that  Rabbi  must  also 
have  been  in  vogue  in  much  earlier  times,  as  will  be  pointed 
out  hereafter  by  comparison  with  the  so-called  Lord's 
Prayer.12 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  SHEMA  IN  THE  EVENING 

THE  first  treatise  of  the  Mishna  begins  with  the  reading 
of  the  Shema,  as  if  it  were  the  most  solemn  and  most  im- 
portant act  in  the  life  of  the  Israelite.  The  precept  implied 
in  the  first  two  verses  of  the  first  section  is  recognized  in  one 
of  the  Gospels  (Mark  12:  29-30)  as  one  of  the  two  weightiest 
commands  of  the  Law.  It  is  the  desire  of  every  good  Israel- 
ite to  die  with  the  words  declaring  God's  unity  upon  his 
lips.  The  Moslem  has  learned  from  the  Jew  to  say  with  his 
last  breath:  I  witness  that  there  is  no  God  but  the  God 
(Allah). 

From  immemorial  times  the  reading  of  the  Shema  has 
been  preceded  and  followed  by  benedictions.1  In  the  even- 
ing and  in  the  morning  two  benedictions  precede  the  read- 
ing. The  first  of  these  refers  to  the  time  of  the  day,  and  gives 
the  name  to  the  whole  morning  or  evening  service;  the 
second  in  each  service  thanks  God  for  his  love  in  teaching 
us  the  Law,  and  prays  for  the  continuance  of  this  love.  It 
is  known  as  Ahaba  (Love).  The  benediction  which  follows 
the  reading  leans  upon  the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  told  in 
the  last  verse  thereof,  and  is  known  as  Gculla  (Redemption) ; 
in  the  evening  service  another  benediction  follows,  in  which 
God  is  besought  for  his  protection  during  the  night.  Here 
follow  the  evening  benedictions: 

I.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who 
by  his  word  darkeneth  the  evenings,  who  in  wisdom  openeth  the 
gates,  and  with  reason  changes  the  times,  and  causeth  the  seasons 
to  alternate,  and  who  orders  the  stars  in  their  watches  in  the 
expanse  according  to  his  will.  He  createth  day  and  night,  he 

(89) 


QO         JEll'ISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

rolleth  light  away  before  darkness,  and  darkness  before  light; 
he  who  moveth  the  day,  and  bringeth  on  the  night,  and  who 
divideth  between  day  and  night;  the  Lord  of  Hqsts  is  his  name 
[The  Germans  add:  The  living  and  steadfast  God,  may  he  always 
reign  over  us  for  evermore];  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord;  he  who 
darkeneth  the  evenings. 

Here  the  Germans  are  guilty  of  a  needless  interpolation, 
foreign  to  the  matter  in  hand.  The  word  rendered  "stead- 
fast" is  rather  late  Hebrew ;  it  is  found  in  Ecclesiastes  in  the 
phrase,  the  earth  "standeth"  forever,  but  is  not  applied  to 
God  either  in  the  Bible  or  anywhere  else  in  the  older  liturgic 
pieces.2 

In  the  next  piece  the  Sefardic  Minhag  differs  from  the 
German  only  by  the  insertion,  in  the  form  given  below,  of 
single  unnecessary  words: 

II.  Thou  hast  loved  thy  people,  the  house  of  Israel,  with  ever- 
lasting love,  thou  hast  taught  us  Law  and  commandments,  ordi- 
nances and  rights.  Therefore,  O  Lord  our  God,  when  we  lie  down 
and  when  we  rise,  we  shall  talk  of  thy  ordinances,  and  rejoice  in 
the  words  of  thy  Law,  and  in  thy  commandments  for  evermore. 
For  they  are  our  life  and  the  length  of  our  days,  and  we  will 
meditate  on  them  (or  breathe  in  them)  bv  day  and  by  night.  And 
do  not  withhold  thy  love  from  us  forever.  Blessed  be  thou,  O 
Lord,  who  loveth  his  people  Israel. 


FIKST  SECTION 

Hoar.  O  Israel,  the  Lord  thy  God.  the  Lord  is  One.  (Blessed 
be  the  name  of  his  glorious  Kingdom  forever  and  aye.)  And  thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  all  thy  soul  and 
all  thy  might.  (Here  follow  four  more  verses,  Deut.  6:  6-9.) 

Rashi  gives  a  most  natural  meaning  to  the  first  verse. 
Let  us  understand  that  the  Lord  who  now  is  worshipped 
by  Israel  will  hereafter  be  alone  worshipped  by  all  mankind, 
and  will  thus  be  the  only  God  in  recognition  as  he  is  already 
in  truth.  The  un-Scriptural  line  which  follows  the  first  verse 


THE  SHEMA  IN  THE  EVENING  91 

took  rise  in  the  second  Temple;  it  was  deemed  the  proper 
reaction  to  the  spiritual  shock  of  hearing  the  otherwise 
unspeakable  Name  pronounced,3  and  was  thence  trans- 
ferred as  a  sort  of  rest  after  the  solemn  announcement  of 
the  highest  truth. 

The  second  section  treats  of  reward  and  punishment,  not 
of  the  individual  saint  or  sinner,  but  of  Israel  as  a  whole;  it 
is  in  Deut.  n:  13-21. 

The  third  section  consists  of  the  last  five  verses  of  Num- 
bers 15.  It  treats  of  the  fringes  on  the  corners  of  the  gar- 
ments, and  ends  thus: 

In  order  that  ye  may  remember  and  do  my  commandments,  and 
that  ye  be  holy  to  your  God,  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  who  have 
brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  to  be  your  God;  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God. 

It  seems,  from  Jeremiah  23:  7,  that  mention  of  the 
Exodus  had  been  made  in  public  worship  even  during  the 
first  Temple,  perhaps  in  the  evening  as  well  as  in  the  morn- 
ing. But  the  "fringes"  belong  to  the  day;  the  verses  treat- 
ing of  them  were  read  at  night  only  for  the  sake  of  uni- 
formity, and  their  recital  in  the  evening  service  was  at  one 
time  in  dispute.4 

In  public  worship  the  last  two  Hebrew  words  (The  Lord) 
(your  God)  are  joined  to  the  first  word  "True"  in  the  fol- 
lowing benediction.5 

The  Genlla  for  the  evening  service  is  marked  by  the  word 
"faithful,"  suggested  by  the  words  of  Psalm  92,  "and 
thy  faithfulness  in  the  nights."  It  reads: 

III.  True  and  faithful  is  all  this,  and  standeth  firmly  for  us:  that 
he,  the  Lord,  is  our  God,  and  no  one  else;  who  ransoms  us  from 
the  hand  of  kings,  our  King  who  delivers  us  from  the  hand  of  all 
the  fear-inspiring;  the  God  who  avengeth  us  upon  our  adversaries, 
and  requiteth  on  all  our  enemies  their  deserts  [Germans  insert: 
Who  doeth  great  things  past  finding  out;  yea,  marvellous  things 
without  number  (Job  9:  10)].  Who  holdeth  our  soul  in  life,  and 


92         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

suffers  not  our  feet  to  be  moved  (Ps.  66:  9);  he  who  leadeth  us 
over  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and  who  lifteth  our  horn  above  all 
those  that  hate  us;  who  worked  for  us  miracles  and  vengeance, 
signs  and  wonders  in  the  land  of  the  sons  of  Ham;  he  who  smote 
in  his  wrath  all  the  first-born  of  Egypt,  and  brought  his  people 
Israel  from  the  midst  thereof  to  everlasting  freedom;  he  who  made 
his  children  to  pass  between  the  parts  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  sank 
their  pursuers  and  enemies  in  the  deep;  then  his  sons  saw  his 
might,  they  gave  praise  and  thanks  to  his  name,  and  willingly 
received  his  dominion;  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  broke  out 
into  song  before  him,  with  great  rejoicing,  and  thus  they  all  said: 

(Ex.  15:  n).  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  Gods? 
Who  is  like  thee,  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing 
wonders. 

Thy  children  saw  thy  Kingship,  even  the  sea  parting  before 
Moses;  they  struck  up:  "This  is  my  God,"  and  cried: 

(Ex.  15:  18).     The  Lord  shall  reign  forever  and  ever! 

It  is  said  (Jer.  31:  u):  For  the  Lord  hath  ransomed  Jacob,  and 
redeemed  him  from  the  hand  of  one  stronger  than  he. 

Blessed  be  thou,   O   Lord,  who  hath   redeemed   Israel. 

The  two  verses  from  Exodus  are  joined  in  by  all  present; 
they  are  sung  by  the  choir  when  there  is  one. 

We  find  a  short  form  of  the  Gcnlla  in  the  Talmud,  for 
cither  the  evening  or  the  morning:  "We  thank  thee,  O  Lord 
our  God,  for  that  thou  hast  brought  us  forth  from  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  ransomed  us  from  the  house  of  bondage,  and 
hast  done  for  us  wonders  and  mighty  deeds  upon  the  sea; 
and  there  we  sang  to  thee."  The  words,  "true  and  faithful," 
are  supposed  to  precede  this  form,  and  that  which  was  sung 
must  follow  it;  that  is,  the  verses  from  the  Red  Sea  Song 
given  above.  But  this  was  evidently  not  the  established 
form  of  the  benediction,  only  what  the  men  of  the  Law 
declared  to  be  the  minimum  of  its  contents.  It  is 
too  dry  and  bare  for  the  Jewish  taste  in  liturgical  matters. 
in  the  benediction  as  now  known  there  is  no  trace  of  either 
rhvme  or  acrostic  and  only  three  or  four  un-Biblical 
words;'1  hence  it  is  quite  probable  that  it  was  from  its  first 
constitution  not  much  shorter  than  at  present.  Another 


THE  SHEMA  IN  THE  EVENING  93 

opinion  in  the  Talmud  demands  a  reference  to  the  smiting 
of  the  first-born,  which  is  made  both  in  the  evening  and  in 
the  morning  benediction.  Another  calls  for  the  words,  "the 
rock  of  Israel  and  its  redeemer;"  and  these  words  are  used 
by  way  of  conclusion  in  the  German  Minhag  whenever  on 
Festivals  "poetries"  are  inserted.7 

The  next  benediction  is  peculiar  to  the  evening: 

Let  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  lie  down  unto  peace;  let  us  rise,  our 
King,  unto  life;  spread  over  us  the  tabernacle  of  thy  peace,  and 
build  us  up  with  good  counsel  of  thy  own;  be  thou  a  shield  about 
us,  and  remove  from  us  the  enemy  and  pestilence,  the  sword  and 
famine  and  grief,  and  remove  the  adversary  from  before  us,  and 
from  behind  us,  and  hide  us  in  the  shadow  of  thy  wings;  for  thou 
art  the  God  who  guardeth  and  delivereth  us,  for  thou  art  a  gracious 
and  merciful  God  and  King;  guard  thou  our  going  out  and  coming 
in  for  life  and  peace  from  henceforth  and  for  evermore. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  guardeth  his  people  Israel  forever. 

"The  adversary"  is  the  English  for  "Satan."  It  is  not 
clear,  however,  that  a  personal  devil  is  here  meant  any 
more  than  in  the  story  of  Balaam,  where  the  angel  tells 
him,  "Behold,  I  came  as  an  adversary  (Satan)  to  thee."  The 
adversary  before  us  is  the  man,  the  spirit,  or  the  evil  impulse 
who  or  which  seduces  us  to  do  wrong;  the  adversary  behind 
us  is  the  human  or  superhuman  being  who  accuses  us  of 
wrong  done. 

On  the  Sabbath  and  on  Festivals,  in  the  German  Ritual, 
only  the  "Blessed  be  thou"  at  the  end  is  taken  off,  and  the 
following  substituted: 

"And  spread  over  us  the  tabernacle  of  thy  peace:  Blessed  be 
thou,  O  Lord,  who  spreadeth  the  tabernacle  of  peace  over  us,  and 
over  all  his  people  Israel,  and  over  Jerusalem." 

The  Sefardim  go  further  back  in  this  change  from  work- 
days to  holy  days;  on  the  latter,  they  say,  we  should  not  ask 
God  to  guard  us — theSabbath  or  Festival  is  in  itself  a  pledge 
of  his  watchful  care — nor  think  of  sword  or  pestilence; 


94         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

hence  they  stop  with  "be  thou  a  shield  about  us"  in  the 
work-day  form,  and  there  add  on  the  Sabbath  and  Festivals, 
"And  spread,"  etc.,  as  above.8 

Here,  in  Talmudic  times,  the  Prayer  would  have  followed 
at  once,  but  a  third  benediction  has  grown  up  which  has 
never  been  fully  recognized  by  all;  of  this  hereafter. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   SHEMA    IN   THE    MORNING 

THE  doubts  about  the  third  paragraph  of  the  Shema 
do  not  touch  the  morning  service,  nor  was  there  ever  an 
attempt  to  add  another  benediction  to  those 'established  in 
the  first  age,  for  the  old  Sages  insisted  strongly  on  joining 
"Redemption  to  Prayer,"  with  nothing  to  intervene. 

But  while  the  number  of  parts,  three  paragraphs  and 
three  benedictions,  was  always  undisputed,  the  volume  of 
the  latter  has  been  very  much  swelled  from  their  small  be- 
ginnings. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  the  first  benediction  in  the 
morning  was  made  up  originally  of  forty-five  Hebrew  words, 
equivalent  to  over  eighty  English  words.  Below,  all  the 
rest  is  enclosed  in  brackets,  each  accretion  separately,  while 
the  original  parts  are  marked  by  the  number  of  words.1 

I.  (1-6).  Blessed  be  them,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world, 
(7"i5)  who  hast  formed  light  and  created  darkness,  who  makest 
peace  and  Greatest  all;  (16-26)  who  dost  in  mercy  light  up  the  earth 
and  those  who  dwell  thereon,  and  renewest  on  each  day  unceas- 
ingly the  work  of  creation.  [Ps.  104:  24.  How  manifold  are  thy 
works,  O  Lord;  in  wisdom  thou  hast  made  them  all;  the  earth  is 
full  of  thy  riches.]  [The  King,  who  alone  is  exalted  from  ever- 
more, who  is  praised  and  glorified  from  the  days  of  eternity! 
Everlasting  God,  in  thy  abundant  kindness  be  merciful  to  us,  Lord 
of  our  strength,  rock  of  our  refuge;  shield  of  our  salvation;  fortress 
around  us!*  God,  the  blessed,  great  in  knowledge,  has  set  up  and 
made  the  beams  of  the  sun;  the  Good  One  has  created  glory  for 
his  name;  he  has  placed  lights  around  his  power;  the  heads  of  his 
hosts  are  holy,  exalting  the  Almighty,  always**  telling  God's  glory 
and  holiness.]  (27-40.)  Be  thou  blessed,  O  Lord  our  God,  for  the 

(95) 


96         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOMK 

excellent  work  of  thy  hands  and  for  the  luminaries  of  light,  which 
thou  hast  made,  they  should  glorify  thee.  Selah. 

[Be  thou  blessed  our  Rock,  our  King,  our  Redeemer,  who  hast 
created  holy  beings;  may  thy  name  be  ever  praised,  our  King,  who 
hast  shaped  attendants,  and  all  of  whose  attendants  stand  in  the 
heights  of  the  world,  and  proclaim  in  awe  together  aloud  the  words 
of  the  living  God  and  everlasting  King.  All  of  them  are  (a) 
beloved,  all  of  them  are  (b)  pure,  all  of  them  are  (c)  mighty;  all 
of  them  (0)  do  in  awe  and  fear  the  will  of  their  Master;  and  all  of 
them  (/>)  open  their  mouths  in  holiness  and  purity,  with  song  and 
music,  and  they  bless  and  praise,  they  glorify  and  revere,  they 
hallow  and  honor  with  homage 

The  name  of  the  God,  the  great,  mighty,  and  fearful  King,  holy 
is  he. 

And  all  of  them  (19)  receive  from  each  other  the  yoke  of  the 
heavenly  Kingdom,  and  give  leave  to  each  other  to  sanctify  their 
Maker  with  calmness  of  spirit;  with  pure  and  pleasant  speech,  all  as 
one  sound  the  Thrice-Holy,  and  say  in  fear: 

Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  full  is  the  whole  earth  of 
his  glory. 

But  the  wheels  and  holy  beasts  arise  with  a  great  rush  to  meet 
the  Seraphim;  over  against  them  they  praise  and  proclaim: 

Blessed  is  the  glory  of  the  Lord  from  its  place]. 

[They  put  forth  sweet  songs  to  the  blessed  God;  they  discourse 
music  and  sound  praises  to  the  King,  the  living  steadfast  God;  to 
him  who  alone  worketh  *mighty  deeds,  who  maketh*  new  things, 
the  Master  of  *battles,  who  soweth  *righteousness,  who  causes 
*salvation  to  spring  forth,  who  worketh  *healing,  who  is  fearful  in 
*praiscs,  the  Lord  of  *\vonders,  who  reneweth  in  his  goodness 
always  and  on  each  day  the  work  of  the  beginning.] 

[As  it  is  said  (Ps.  136:  7):  Thank  him  who  made  the  great 
lights,  for  his  mercy  endureth  forever.]  [Let  a  new  light  shine 
over  Zion,  and  may  we  all  soon  deserve  its  radiance.]  (41-45.) 
Blessed  be  thou,  ()  Lord,  Maker  of  the  luminaries. 


The  first  sentence  (7-15)  is  taken  from  Isaiah  45:  7:  (I) 
form  light  and  create  darkness;  (I)  make  peace  and  create 
evil;  but  toned  down  in  the  last  word:  it  is  a  protest  against 
the  dualism  of  Persia,  with  its  Ormuzcl  and  Ahriman,  the 
gods  of  light  and  of  darkness.  The  third  sentence  in  the  old 
form  and  the  close  of  the  benediction,  by  asserting  that  the 


THE  SHEMA  IN  THE  MORNING  97 

Lord  made  "the  luminaries  of  light"  (cmp.  Gen.  1 : 16),  stand 
out  as  a  protest  against  Greeks,  Canaanites,  and  Baby- 
lonians, who  worshipped  the  sun  and  moon  and  the  stars. 
Nay,  the  Israelites  of  the  second  Temple  who  learned  to 
recite  this  benediction  felt  a  proud  distinction  over  their 
forefathers  of  the  first  Commonwealth,  many  of  whom  at 
sunrise  turned  to  the  rising  luminary  in  worship.2  The  mid- 
dle part  of  the  old  formula  is  a  protest  against  the  teachings 
of  Epicurus.3 

The  Hebrew  word  therein  for  Creation  is  Be-Reshith, 
"In  the  beginning,"  which,  from  the  first  two  words  of 
Genesis,  has  in  the  later  language  grown  into  a  single  word 
answering  to  Creation  in  English.  The  meaning  of  the 
sentence  is  that  God  does  not  leave  the  world  to  blind 
forces,  but  by  watching  over  it  he  renews  the  work  of  Crea- 
tion. 

Of  the  later  insertions  the  oldest  were  most  probably  the 
two  Psalm  verses,  one  near  the  beginning,  the  other  near 
the  end. 

Next  is  the  account  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  who  are 
endowed  with  life,  and  identified  with  attendants  at  God's 
throne,  who  sing  the  Thrice-Holy,  and  who  bless  his  glory. 
These  responses  will  be  met  with  hereafter  in  the  repetition 
of  the  Prayer  in  public;  they  may  have  been  put  here  to 
give  them  a  place  in  private  devotion. 

That  this  accretion  is  pretty  old,  dating  at  least  to  the 
year  300,  appears  from  a  reference  in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud 
to  a  leader  in  the  services  who  became  confused  at  the 
mention  of  the  Ofannim  (Wheels).4  The  words  "beloved, 
pure,  mighty,  do,  open,"  are  marked  with  the  letters  a, 
b,  c,  o,  p,  to  indicate  the  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet 
with  which  they  begin.  There  may  once  have  been  a  com- 
position running  thus  through  all  the  letters,  which  was 
recited  only  on  occasions,  and  was  afterwards  shortened 
for  every-day  use. 


98         JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  other  pieces,  "The  King  who  alone,"  near  the  begin- 
ning, and  "They  put  forth,"  near  the  end,  are  written  in 
a  more  labored  style,  and  betray  a  later  date.  There  are 
five  rhyming  clauses  in  the  sentence  "Everlasting  God;" 
easy  enough,  as  the  rhyme  is  made  by  the  suffix  for  "us"  or 
"our."  The  next  sentence  (*  —  *  *)  is  made  up  of  twenty- 
two  words  with  initials  in  the  order  of  the  alphabet  at  some 
sacrifice  of  grammar.  In  the  new  piece  near  the  end  there 
are  eight  words,*  all  ending  in  oth,  the  mark  of  the  feminine 
plural.  Then  follow  the  simple  words,  "who  reneweth," 
which  are  borrowed  from  the  old  formula,  in  order  that 
the  benediction  at  its  end  might  be  brought  back  to  its 
motif. 

The  idea  of  imparting  life  and  personality  to  the  heav- 
enly bodies  is  not  drawn  from  the  Aggadta  but  from 
Biblical  sources,  such  as  Psalms  104  and  148. 

The  last  sentence  before  the  sealing,  "Let  a  new  light," 
is  not  found  in  the  Sefardic  ritual  nor  in  the  Mahzor 
Vitry,  the  oldest  standard  for  the  Germans.  It  has  been 
opposed  by  the  greatest  authorities,  such  as  R.  Saadia,  as 
being  out  of  place,  for  this  benediction  deals  with  the 
natural  light  of  clay,  such  as  it  now  shines  for  all  alike;  not 
with  light  in  any  figurative  sense  which  is  to  shine  in  the 
future. 

Altogether  the  two  rituals  agree  pretty  closely  on  the 
whole  of  this  benediction. 

For  the  Sabbath  it  has  been  much  extended.  Before 
(16-26)  of  the  oldest  form  is  inserted: 

All  should  give  thanks  to  tliee,  all  should  praise  thee;  all  should 
say:  none  is  holy  like  the  Lord.  All  should  exalt  thee,  Maker  of 
all;  God  who  opens  each  day  the  doors  of  the  eastern  gates,  and 
hews  out  windows  in  the  skies;  who  bringeth  the  sun  from  its 
place,  the  moon  from  its  wonted  seat,  and  illumines  all  the  world 
and  its  inhabitants,  whom  he  has  made  through  the  quality  of 
mercy. 


THE  SHEMA  IN  THE  MORNING  99 

(After  16-26  of  the  old  form,  and  the  work-day  insertion 
to  "fortress  around  us,"  proceed:) 

None  is  of  a  kind  with  thee;  there  is  none  beside  thee;  there  is 
none  but  thee;  none  is  like  thee.  None  of  a  kind  with  thee,  O 
Lord  our  God,  in  this  world;  none  beside  thee  in  the  next  world; 
nothing  outside  of  thee,  our  Redeemer,  in  the  days  of  the  Messiah; 
none  compareth  to  thee,  our  Saviour,  at  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.5 

Almighty  Master  of  all  creatures, 

Blessed  and  praised  by  each  breathing  mouth; 

Grace  and  greatness  fill  his  world, 

Deepest  wisdom  encircles  his  seat. 

He  is  enthroned  above  the  heavenly  forces, 

Worshipped  in  reverence  upon  the  chariot. 

Zeal  for  the  right  stands  at  his  throne; 

Highest  mercy  pervades  his  presence; 

True  and  good  are  his  luminous  spheres: 

In  wisdom,  reason,  knowledge  he  shaped  them, 

Kingly  might  he  placed  in  them, 

Letting  them  rule  o'er  the  living  world. 

Massive  with  light,  pouring  forth  radiance, 

Nowhere  and  never  their  brightness  endeth. 

Setting  with  joy  they  rise  with  gladness, 

Obedient  e'er  to  their  owner's  will. 

Praise  and  honor  they  yield  to  his  name; 

Cheers  and  songs  to  the  fame  of  his  empire. 

Quick  to  his  call  the  sun  shone  forth; 

Round,  like  it,  he  built  the  disk  of  the  moon. 

Shouts  of  praise  rise  from  all  the  host  on  high; 

Thronging  seraphs  and  angels  sing  glory  and  greatness.8 

The  above  twenty-two  verses  represent  as  many  Hebrew 
lines,  the  first  two  of  five  words  each,  the  last  two  of  six, 
all  the  rest  of  four  each,  and  ordered  by  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet;  the  same  arrangement  has  been  followed  in  the 
version,  substituting  the  nearest  equivalents  for  the  Hebrew 
letters.  The  original  runs  much  more  smoothly  than  this 
version,  for  Hebrew  acrostics  of  even  short  lines  are  easily 


100      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

made  by  reason  of  many  synonyms  and  of  the  great  free- 
dom in  the  order  of  words. 

Connecting  with  the  last  clause  above,  the  benediction  for 
the  Sabbath  proceeds  thus: 

To  the  God  who  rested  from  all  his  works,  and  on  the  seventh 
day  sat  exalted  on  the  throne  of  his  glory;  who  wrapped  the  day  of 
rest  in  beauty,  and  who  called  the  Sabbath  delight.  This  is  the 
excellence  of  the  seventh  day,  that  thereon  God  rested  from  all  his 
work.  Nay  the  seventh  day  itself  says  praises  and  speaks:  "A 
Psalm,  the  song  for  the  Sabbath  day.  It  is  good  to  give  thanks  to 
the  Lord."  Therefore,  let  all  creatures  glorify  and  bless  God,  and 
give  praise,  honor,  and  greatness  to  the  divine  King,  the  Maker  of 
all,  who  giyes  a  holy  rest  as  a  heritage  to  his  people  Israel  on  his 
Holy  Sabbath.  May  thy  name,  O  Lord  our  God.  be  hallowed, 
and  thy  memorial,  O  our  King,  be  glorified,  in  the  heavens  above 
and  on  the  earth  beneath.  Be  thou  blessed,  our  Saviour,  for  the 
excellence  of  the  work  of  thy  hands  and  for  the  luminaries  of  light 
which  thou  hast  made,  they  should  glorify  thee.  Selah. 

After  this  the  Sabbath  form  is  like  that  for  week-days. 
On  Festivals  falling  on  week-days  there  is  no  change, 
unless  "poetries"  of  later  ages  are  inserted. 

The  insertion  for  the  Sabbath  is  written  in  a  language 
and  style  as  late  as  or  later  than  the  latest  insertions  in  the 
common  form. 

In  the  paragraph  last  given,  the  seventh  day  is  personified 
and  named  as  the  author  of  Psalm  92  from  its  title, 
as  Asaph  is  of  Psalm  83,  or  David  of  Psalm  23.  This 
notion  is  found  in  the  Midrash  on  the  Psalms,  written 
towards  the  end  of  the  ninth  century.  But  the  piece  in  the 
Prayer  Book  seems  older  than  the  Midrash.  It  seems  that 
this  imagery,  turning  the  Sabbath  into  a  Psalm  writer,  was 
first  conceived  by  him  who  composed  this  part  of  the  morn- 
ing service.7 

In  the  second  benediction  known  as  "Love"  (Ahaba), 
thanks  are  rendered  for  the  Law  and  for  Israel's  mission. 


THE  SHEMA  IN  THE  MORNING  IOI 

It  stands  in  the  German  ritual,  putting  in  brackets  those 
parts  which,  in  the  opinion  of  scholars,  are  of  later  origin, 
as  follows: 

II.  Thou  hast  loved  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  with  abundant  love, 
thou  hast  foreborne  with  us  in  great  and  overflowing  pity.  Our 
Father!  our  King!  for  the  sake  of  our  fathers,  who  trusted  in  thee, 
and  whom  thou  taughtest  the  laws  of  life,  teach  us  also  graciously. 
[Our  Father,  the  merciful  Father,  who  showeth  mercy,  show  it  to 
us,  and  put  it  into  our  hearts  to  understand,  even  wisely,  to  hear, 
to  learn,  and  to  teach,  to  keep,  to  do,  and  to  fulfill  all  the  words  of 
the  study  of  thy  law  lovingly.]  Illumine  our  eyes  in  thy  law,  let 
our  heart  cleave  to  thy  commandments,  and  unite  our  hearts  to 
love  and  to  fear  thy  name,  so  that  we  may  never  come  to  shame. 
[For  we  trust  in  thy  great  and  fearful  holy  name,  we  rejoice  and  are 
glad  in  thy  salvation;  and  bring  us  unto  peace  from  the  four  corners 
of  the  earth,  and  lead  us  walking  erect  unto  our  land.]  For  thou 
art  the  God  who  worketh  salvation,  and  thou  hast  chosen  us  from 
every  people  and  tongue,  and  hast  brought  us  near  to  thy  great 
name  [Selah]  in  truth;  to  give  thanks  to  thee  and  lovingly  to  pro- 
claim thee  One.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  hath  chosen  his 
people  Israel  in  love. 

The  Sefardic  Minhag  adds  over  forty  words,  a  few  here, 
a  few  there,  both  in  the  older  and  in  the  later  parts  of  the 
benediction.  The  Mahzor  Vitry  contains  the  same  pad- 
ding. 

The  bracketed  parts  betray  their  late  origin,  because  the 
benediction,  to  judge  from  its  counterpart  in  the  evening, 
is  a  place  rather  for  thanks  than  for  supplication;  the  second 
of  these  parts  also,  because  to  pray  for  the  gathering  of 
the  dispersion  is  out  of  place  in  the  context,  and  those 
who  drew  up  the  old  formulas  were  great  sticklers  for  the 
"unities."  The  four  corners  of  the  earth  were  probably 
suggested  by  the  fact  that  the  worshipper  took  into  one 
hand  the  four  fringes  at  the  corner  of  his  shawl,  as  he  is  soon 
to  read  the  section  from  Numbers  concerning  them.8 

The  three  Scripture  passages  are  now  read  as  in  the  even- 


102       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ing.  In  public  service  the  leader  again  unites  the  last 
words,  "The  Lord  your  God,"  with  "True"  or  "Truth"  at 
the  beginning  of  the  benediction  that  follows. 

Dropping  some  of  the  sixteen  synonyms  at  the  begin- 
ning, we  have: 

III.  True  and  established  [upright,  lovely,  majestic,  received, 
good,  and  fair]  is  this  word  to  us  forever.  [Truly,  the  everlasting 
God  is  our  King,  the  Rock  of  Jacob  is  our  saving  shield;  in  all 
generations  he  standeth,  his  name  standeth,  and  his  throne  standeth, 
and  his  Kingdom  standeth,  and  his  faith  endureth  forever.  His 
words  are  living  and  steadfast,  true  and  pleasant,  unto  everlasting, 
for  our  fathers,  for  us,  and  for  our  children,  for  our  generations, 
and  for  those  of  the  seed  Israel,  thy  servants.  For  the  first  and 
for  the  last,  the  word  is  good  and  standeth  forever.  True  and 
faithful,  the  ordinance  will  not  pass  away.  Truly,  thou,  O  Lord, 
art  our  God,  and  the  God  of  our  fathers,  our  King,  the  King 
of  our  fathers,  our  Redeemer,  the  Redeemer  of  our  fathers,  our 
Maker,  the  Rock  of  our  salvation,  our  Liberator  and  Saviour; 
from  everlasting  is  thy  name;  there  is  no  God  beside  thee.] 
[Thou  hast  been  the  help  of  our  fathers  from  all  time,  a  shield  and 
saviour  to  their  children  after  them  in  every  age.  Thy  seat  is  in  the 
eternal  heights,  thy  judgments  and  thy  righteousness  go  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  Happy  is  the  man  who  listens  to  thy  command- 
ments, who  takes  to  heart  thy  Law,  thy  Holy  Word.  Truly  thou 
art  a  Master  to  thy  people  and  a  mighty  King  to  plead  their 
cause.]  [Truly  thou  art  the  first  and  the  last,  beside  thee  we  have 
no  King,  Redeemer,  or  Saviour.]  From  Egypt  thou  hast  redeemed 
us,  O  Lord  our  God,  and  from  the  house  of  bondage  thou  hast 
ransomed  us;  *thou  didst  kill  all  their  first-born,  and  didst  redeem 
thy  first-born;  thou  didst  split  the  Red  Sea;  thou  didst  sink  the 
haughty,  and  broughtest  over  the  beloved*  (Ps.  106:  n):  And  the 
waters  covered  their  enemies,  there  was  not  one  of  them  left. 
[Therefore  the  beloved  praised  and  exalted  God,  and  the  beloved 
gave  out  music,  songs,  and  hymns,  blessings  and  thanks,  to  the 
King,  the  living  and  everlasting  God;  high  and  exalted,  great  and 
fearful,  who  lowers  the  proud,  and  raises  the  lowly,  frees  the 
captives,  and  redeems  the  humble;  he  helps  the  poor  and  answers 
his  people  when  they  supplicate  to  him;  praises  to  God  on  high, 
blessed  and  again  blessed.]  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  struck 
up  ;i  song  to  thee  with  great  joy,  and  all  of  them  said  (Ex.  15:  u,  as 
in  the  evening):  The  redeemed  took  up  a  new  song  to  thy  name 


THE  SHEMA  IN  THE  MORNING  103 

on  the  shore  of  the  sea;  all  gave  thanks  and  homage,  and  said 
(Ex.  15:  18):  The  Lord  will  reign  for  evermore.  [Rock  of  Israel, 
arise  to  the  aid  of  Israel,  and  redeem  according  to  thy  word  Judah 
and  Israel.]  (Isa.  47:  4):  Our  Redeemer!  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
his  name,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  he 
has  redeemed  Israel.* 

The  parts  of  later  growth  have  been  put  in  brackets. 
"True  and  established"  are  the  initial  words  given  in  the 
Mishna;  the  heaping  up  of  fourteen  other  qualities  of  the 
Law,  which  is  heaping  up  so  many  compliments  to  its 
author,  is  against  the  rules  of  taste  laid  down  in  the  earlier 
clays.10  There  is  also  this  positive  proof  of  interpolations 
in  the  first  part  of  the  benediction,  that  the  West  Germans 
abridge  it  very  considerably,  reducing  the  sixteen  synonyms 
to  eight  whenever  "poetry"  is  inserted  on  the  Festivals  and 
certain  Sabbaths.  Several  subsequent  passages  begin  with 
the  word  Emcth,  i.  e.,  truth,  true,  truly.  This  word  occurs 
only  once  in  the  Gculla  of  the  evening,  and  very  probably 
only  once  in  the  first  draft  of  that  for  the  morning.  The 
first  of  these  longer  insertions,  which  so  eloquently  claims 
that  our  Law  is  unchangeable,  and  that  God  alone  is  our 
Redeemer,  was  evidently  written  as  a  protest  against  grow- 
ing and  threatening  Christianity.  The  next  bracketed  part 
(Thou  hast  been  the  help)  is  in  no  way  indicated  by  the 
short  Talmudic  form  quoted  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and 
has  no  bearing  on  the  redemption  from  Egypt.  The  next 
sentence,  in  separate  brackets,  looks  like  another  protest 
against  Christianity.  "From  Egypt  thou  hast  redeemed 
us"  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the  benediction;  but  the  lines 
between  asterisks,  though  as  a  whole  indispensable,  look 
like  a  poetic  expansion.  The  next  bracketed  part  (There- 
fore the  beloved)  is  certainly  such,  of  the  kind  as,  in  the 
oldest  time  of  the  liturgy,  would  have  been  left  to  the  taste 
of  each  individual  leader.  Nearly  all  the  rest  is  old,  as  the 
two  verses  from  the  Red  Sea  Song  are  clearly  indicated 
by  the  Talmudic  form.  The  words,  "Rock  of  Israel,"  were 


104      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

strongly  objected  to  as  unauthorized  as  late  as  the  thir- 
teenth and  the  fourteenth  centuries  by  German  as  well  as  by 
Spanish  scholars.  They  bring  in  a  request  for  a  redemption 
hereafter,  while  the  benediction  should  deal  only  with  the 
redemption  in  the  past,11  and  the  Geulla  in  the  evening  ser- 
vice does  not  contain  a  word  of  request.  The  verse  from 
Isaiah  naturally  leads  to  the  close,  but  has  probably  taken 
the  place  of  a  short  un-Biblical  clause;  many  service  books 
put  it  in  parentheses. 


CHAPTER  V 

RESPONSES — THE   KADDISH 

IT  is  the  custom  now,  and  was  such  in  the  earliest  time 
in  which  the  "benediction"  made  a  part  of  the  service,  that 
when  it  was  pronounced  in  public  by  a  leader,  those  present 
would  adopt  it  as  their  own  by  answering,  "Amen."  Accord- 
ing to  the  Mishna,  the  Jew  might  respond  Amen  even  to  the 
benediction  of  a  Samaritan  if  he  had  heard  it  all.1  But  Amen 
was  said  only  in  the  Synagogue  or  at  the  table,  not  in  the 
Temple;  there  the  answer  was:  Blessed  be  the  name  of  his 
glorious  Kingdom  forever  and  ever.2 

After  the  three  distinguishing  words  of  the  benediction 
(Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord),  spoken  by  a  leader,  it  has  for 
many  centuries  been  the  custom  for  the  hearers  to  answer: 
Blessed  be  he,  and  blessed  his  name.  This,  as  well  as 
the  response  in  the  Temple,  is  based  on  the  verse  in  Deut. 
32:  When  I  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  give  ye  homage 
to  our  God.3 

A  more  important  response  is  that  which  follows  the  lead- 
er's address  by  which  the  evening  service  and  the  more 
essential  part  of  the  morning  service  are  introduced.  When 
the  assembled  worshippers  are  thus  addressed  and  do  thus 
respond,  they  are  said,  in  the  words  of  the  Mishna,  to 
"break"  (or  "to  cut  pieces")  on  the  Shcma,  and  this  can 
only  be  done  in  the  presence  of  ten  men.4 

It  is  on  the  Shema,  because  the  address  and  response 
precede  its  first  benediction,  which  is  deemed  a  part  of  it. 
The  words  of  the  address  are  four: 

i.  Barechu,  bless  ye.  2.  Eth,  the  mark  of  the  objective. 
3.  The  four-lettered  Name.  This  would  have  been  enough, 

(105) 


106       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

but  by  stopping  here  the  leader  would  have  excluded  him- 
self from  those  who  bless  God,  and  so  he  adds:  4.  Hatn- 
mcborach,  the  blessed.  The  whole  thus  becomes,  "Bless  ye 
the  Lord,  the  blessed." 

The  people  answer,  and  the  leader  repeats  after  them 
(the  latter  usage  seems  to  be  an  after-thought),  "Blessed  be 
the  Lord,  the  blessed,  forever  and  ever."  In  the  answer  the 
first  word  is  Barnch,  the  second  "blessed"  as  in  the  address, 
Hammeborach.* 

The  privilege  of  being  thus  addressed  and  of  answering 
thus  was  deemed  almost  a  sufficient  reward  for  a  long  walk 
to  the  Synagogue.  It  was  not,  as  with  our  Catholic  fellow- 
citizens,  the  sacredness  of  a  priest  conferring  holiness  upon 
the  words  spoken  by.  him,  but  simply  the  presence  of  ten 
men,  assembled  for  the  worship  of  God;  ten  such  men  rep- 
v resent  the  Congregation  of  Israel;  where  they  meet,  the 
Shechina,  or  Presence  of  God,  is  poured  out  among  them.8 
We  say  "almost"  a  sufficient  reward  only  because  there 
came  other  responsive  passages. 

These  are  the  Kaddish  and  the  Kcdusha.  The  former 
word  is  the  Aramaic  form  of  the  Hebrew  Kadosh  (holy);  the 
latter  is  good,  classic  Hebrew  for  holiness,  but  means  here 
hallowing  or  sanctification ;  it  can  only  be  explained  in  the 
next  chapter  in  connection  with  the  Amida,  or  Prayer. 

The  former  is,  as  found  in  the  present  service  books,  a 
queer  compound  of  Hebrew  and  Aramaic;  Hebrew  pre- 
dominates in  the  words,  Aramaic  in  the  flexions.  The  Ara- 
maic element  was  infused  into  it  to  make  it  more  readily 
understood  by  women  and  children  and,  generally  speaking, 
by  the  most  ignorant  portion  of  the  people. 

The  so-called  "complete"  Kaddish  in  the  modern  rituals, 
German  and  Sefardic,  stands  as  follows.  The  parts  put  in 
brackets  belong  to  the  latter  only,  and  are  later  interpola- 
tions. The  responses  are  shown  in  quotation  marks: 


THE  KADDISH  107 

Magnified  and  hallowed  be  (see  Ezek.  38:  23)  his  great  name  in 
the  world  which  he  hath  created  according  to  his  will,  and  may  he 
cause  his  Kingdom  to  reign  [let  his  salvation  grow,  and  bring  on 
his  Anointed]  in  your  lives  and  days  and  within  the  life  of  all 
Israel,  speedily  and  in  a  near  time,  and  say  ye,  "Amen.  Be  his 
great  name  blessed  forever  and  to  all  eternity."  Blessed  and 
honored  and  glorified  and  exalted  and  raised  and  beautified  and 
lifted  up  and  praised  be  the  name  of  the  Holy  One,  "blessed  be 
he."  Upwards  over  all  blessings,  songs,  hymns,  and  consolations 
that  are  spoken  in  the  world,  and  say  ye,  "Amen."* 

May  the  prayer  and  request  of  all  Israel  be  received  before  their 
Father  who  is  in  Heaven,  and  say  ye,  "Amen."** 

Be  there  much  peace  from  heaven,  life  [and  plenty  and  salvation 
and  comfort  and  help,  healing  and  redemption,  forgiveness  and 
atonement,  room  and  deliverance]  for  us  and  for  all  [his  people] 
Israel,  and  say  ye,  "Amen." 

He  who  maketh  peace  in  his  places  (Job  25:  2),  may  he  [in  his 
mercy]  make  peace  among  us  and  among  all  Israel,  and  say  ye, 
"Amen." 

Stopping-  at  the  second  Amen  (*)  we  have  the  Half  Kad- 
dish  of  the  Germans  or  Kaddish  Le'clla  of  the  Sefardim. 
Leaving  out  the  next  paragraph  alone,  but  proceeding  with 
what  follows,  we  have  what  is  now  known  as  the  "Kaddish 
of  the  Fatherless,"  or  the  Mourners'  Kaddish,  which  plays 
an  inordinately  great  part  in  modern  Judaism. 

The  complete  Kaddish  is  recited  after  and  with  regard 
to  each  Amida,  as  is  indicated  by  its  words,  "the  prayer 
and  request."  The  main  office  of  the  Half  Kaddish  is  to 
introduce  the  address,  "Bless  ye,"  in  the  morning  service; 
it  thus  becomes  a  part  of  "breaking  on  the  Shema."  But  it 
must  have  some  Psalm  or  Bible  passages  to  precede  it,  or 
it  must  precede  them  when  .it  is  interposed  between  the 
Prayer  and  the  complete  Kaddish. 

The  weighty  response  of  the  Kaddish  is: 

"Amen,  be  his  great  name  blessed  forever  and  to  all 
eternity."  This  is  considered  the  most  solemn  part  of 
public  worship;  though  it  is  undoubtedly  much  younger 
than  "Blessed  be  the  Lord,"  in  answer  to  "Bless  ye  the 
Lord." 


108       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

InaBaraitha  of  some  length, ascribed  to  R.  Jose,  a  mystic 
of  the  second  century,  the  prophet  Elijah  informs  the  pious 
Rabbi  that  when  Israel,  in  the  houses  of  study  and  in  the 
Synagogues,  answers,  "Be  his  great  name  blessed,"  God 
nods  assent  and  says,  "Happy  is  the  King  to  whom  they 
bring  such  homage!"  And  the  Talmud  says  that  while  a 
person  engaged  in  study  might  not  interrupt  himself  for  any 
other  purpose,  he  should  do  it,  in  order  to  respond,  "Be  his 
great  name  blessed."  Yet  neither  the  Kaddish  as  a  whole 
nor  the  response  is  mentioned  anywhere  in  the  Mishna,  a 
circumstance  which  throws  some  doubt  on  the  genuineness 
of  the  Baraitha  credited  to  R.  Jose.7 

The  response,  we  are  told  above,  is  heard  in  the  house  of 
study,  for  there  is  a  species  of  the  Kaddish  known  as  "that 
of  the  Rabbis."  In  this  the  paragraph  as  to  prayer  is 
omitted,  and  in  its  place  there  is  inserted: 

Upon  Israel  and  upon  our  teachers  (Rabbis)  and  upon  their 
disciples,  and  all  the  disciples  of  their  disciples,  and  on  all  those 
that  study  the  law,  whether  at  this  place,  or  in  any  other  place, 
may  there  be  for  them  and  for  you,  much  peace,  grace,  and  kind- 
ness, mercy  and  long  life,  plentiful  nourishment  and  deliverance, 
from  the  presence  of  the  Father  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  and  say  ye, 
"Amen." 

When  ten  or  more  men  have  studied  the  Mishna  or  its 
commentary,  the  Talmud,  together,  one  of  them  at  the  close 
recites  the  Kaddish  of  the  Rabbis,  the  others  responding, 
and  two  or  three  sections  of  the  Mishna  are,  in  modern 
times,  often  read  and  interpreted  at  the  end  or  before  the 
opening  of  the  regular  services  purposely,  to  give  the 
mourners  present  an  opportunity  to  recite  this  Kaddish. 

There  is  yet  another  species  of  the  Kaddish  more  solemn 
than  all  others.  It  is  spoken  at  the  open  grave,  also  at  the 
house  of  study  when  some  one  of  those  present  has,  in  his 
studies,  gone  through  one  whole  "Order"  of  the  Mishna. 
In  this  Kaddish  the  first  paragraph  is  enlarged  so  as  to  take 
the  following  shape: 


THE  KADDISH  109 

Magnified  and  hallowed  be  his  great  name,  which  in  the  future 
is  to  be  renewed,  when  he  will  revive  the  dead,  and  raise  to  eternal 
life,  and  build  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  finish  the  Temple  in  its 
midst,  and  uproot  the  false  service  from  the  earth,  and  restore  the 
heavenly  service  to  its  place;  and  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  he, 
will  cause  his  Kingdom  and  glory  to  reign,  in  your  lives  and  days, 
etc.,  and  say  ye,  "Amen." 

"Upon  Israel"  is  added  in  its  proper  place  when  this 
Kaddish  is  recited  in  the  house  of  study. 

The  response,  "Be  his  great  name  blessed,"  in  two  of  the 
four  passages  of  the  Talmud  which  quote  it,  is  given  in 
good  Hebrew  or  nearly  so;  Abudraham  found  it  so  in  an 
old  and  authentic  manuscript.  The  last  paragraph  and  the 
latter  half  of  the  last  but  one  are  still  Hebrew ;  when  the  rest 
took  their  Aramaic  guise  is  uncertain,  probably  in  the  sixth 
or  seventh  century. 

The  older  authorities  on  the  Prayer  Book  know  nothing 
about  a  Mourners'  Kaddish  by  that  name;  they  denote  it 
simply  by  the  opening  words  of  the  fourth  paragraph, 
because  the  third  is  omitted.  They  do  not  intimate  that 
anybody  but  the  regular  leader  recites  it.  Maimonides  wants 
Kaddish  said  seven  times  a  day,  i.  e.,  thrice  the  complete 
one,  four  times  the  Half  Kaddish,  which  leaves  none  to  the 
mourner.  How  and  when  the  custom  arose  that  the  mourn- 
ers present  at  a  service  recite  the  body  of  such  a  Kaddish, 
receiving  the  responses  of  the  Congregation,  and  when  the 
belief  sprang  up  that  the  son  performs  a  duty  to  his  departed 
father  and  mother  by  repeating  the  Kaddish  during  the  year 
of  mourning  and  on  the  anniversaries  of  his  and  her  death, 
it  is  hard  to  tell. 

It  seems,  however,  clear,  from  the  legends  on  the  subject, 
that  the  custom  and  underlying  belief  at  first  required  the 
son  to  prove  the  merit  of  his  parents  by  "breaking  on  the 
Shema." 

He  would  thus  in  the  morning  service  give  out  Kaddish 
and  "Bless  ye,"  in  the  evening  service  only  the  latter,  and 


110       JE WISH  SER  VICES  IN  SYNA  GOG UE  A ND  HOME 

would  obtain  the  responses  to  both.  But  this  was  not 
always  feasible,  for  a  boy  under  thirteen  is  not  qualified  to 
"break  on  the  Shema,"  nor  can  several  orphans  join  in 
doing  so,  and  when  it  became  the  rule  for  the  same  man  to 
do  this  and  to  lead  in  prayer  generally,  many  mourners 
would  be  found  unequal  to  the  task.  Then  some  particular 
Kaddish  (neither  the  half  nor  the  complete)  not  wound  up 
with  the  essential  parts  of  the  service,  following  some  Psalm 
or  voluntary  devotion,  or  the  Kaddish  for  the  Rabbis  after 
the  reading  of  Mishna  or  Baraiitha,  could  be  set  aside  for 
the  mourners.  This  custom  arose  among  the  German  and 
French  Jews  (probably  by  way  of  reflex  from  their  Christian 
neighbors)  long  before  it  found  a  place  among  the  Sefardim, 
who  grew  up  under  Moslem  rule.  Abudraham,  in  his  book 
published  shortly  before  1340,  has  no  allusion  to  the 
Mourners'  Kaddish,8  while  the  Mahzor  Vitry,  dated  A.  M. 
4968  (1208),  refers  to  it  pretty  plainly  by  the  words,  "the 
lad  stands  up  and  says  Kaddish,"  and  by  publishing,  prob- 
ably for  the  first  time  among  books  still  preserved,  a  well- 
known  legend,  written  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  orphans 
who  mourn  for  a  father  or  mother  to  lead  in  public  worship. 
Rabbi  Akiba  is  said  to  have  seen  a  coal-black  man  at  a 
grave-yard  bearing  a  heavy  load  of  faggots  and  running  like 
a  horse.  He  kindly  offered  to  redeem  him  from  bondage 
to  a  master  imposing  such  hard  tasks,  but  the  answer  came, 
Do  not  delay  me,  or  my  taskmasters  will  be  angry.  On  fur- 
ther question  the  stranger  told  him  that  he  was  dead,  that 
while  alive  he  had  been  a  cruel  and  unjust  gatherer  of  trib- 
ute, favoring  the  rich  and  murdering  the  poor,  and  that 
there  was  no  help  for  him,  unless,  as  he  heard,  something 
should  happen  that  was  clearly  impossible,  namely,  that  a 
son  of  his  would  give  out  "Bless  ye"  in  the  Synagogue,  and 
the  people  would  respond.  R.  Akiba  asked  for  his  and  his 
wife's  name  and  for  the  name  of  his  town;  it  was  Laodicaea. 
He  there  found  the  widow,  as  wicked  as  her  late  husband, 
and  a  posthumous  son  uncircumcised  and  wholly  untaught. 


THE  KADDISH  III 

He  circumcised,  and,  with  unutterable  effort,  taught  the 
boy  the  rudiments,  i.  e.,  to  read  the  Shema  and  to  say  grace 
after  meals;  he  stood  him  up  in  public,  so  that  he  gave  out 
"Bless  ye,"  and  the  people  responded.  At  that  moment  the 
dead  man  was  relieved  from  his  sufferings  in  Gehinnom, 
and  he  informed  R.  Akiba  thereof  in  a  dream.9  Hence, 
adds  the  compiler  of  the  Mahzor,  it  is  usual  on  Saturday 
night  (when  the  condemned  no  longer  enjoy  the  weekly 
remission  of  their  torments)  for  some  one  who  has  no  father 
or  mother  to  say  "Bless  ye"  or  the  Kaddish. 

The  underlying  sentiment  of  the  legend  is  this,  that  a 
child,  religiously  trained  by  his  dead  father  or  mother,  may 
well  hope  that  his  acts  of  worship  in  the  Synagogue  reflect 
credit  before  God  upon  those  who  taught  him  to  be  a  good 
Israelite,  but  the  story  seeks  to  impute  R.  Akiba's  merits 
to  a  dead  sinner,  which  is  Catholic  but  not  Jewish  doctrine. 

The  phrase,  "breaking  upon  the  Shema,"  which  in  the 
Mishna  means  the  responsive  reading  of  "Bless  ye,"  or  of 
Kaddish  and  "Bless  ye,"  before  the  first  benediction,  is  in 
modern  practice  applied  to  a  repetition  of  these  responsive 
parts  after  the  morning  prayer  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
may  have  missed  them  in  the  proper  place  by  coming  too 
late  to  the  services.  Among  the  Sefardim  this  is  done  as  a 
matter  of  course,  if  any  belated  visitor  is  present. 

In  the  German  Minhag  two  verses  (Num.  14:  17  and  Ps. 
25 :  6)  are  said  silently  by  the  Congregation  while  the  reader 
chants  the  words  "Magnified  and  hallowed,"  and  in  both 
rituals  the  Congregation  is  directed  to  whisper  a  short  dox- 
ology,  while  he  slowly  chants  "Bless  ye."  This  embraces 
in  the  German  Prayer  Book  Ps.  68:  5,  and  113:  2.  But  the 
more  learned  very  properly  disregard  these  directions, 
deeming  it  more  meritorious  to  listen  to  the  leader  than  to 
mumble  something  else. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   CONSTANT  PARTS  OF  THE  TEFILLA 

THE  Tefilla,  or  Prayer  proper,  is  made  up  on  work-days 
of  nineteen  benedictions,  formerly  of  eighteen,  from  which 
latter  number  it  takes  its  popular  name;  on  Sabbath  and 
Festivals,  and  as  "Additional,"  on  New  Moons  and  half 
festivals,  it  consists  of  only  seven;  the  "Additional"  on  the 
Memorial  Day,  of  nine. 

But  the  first  three  and  the  last  three  of  these  benedictions 
are  constant  for  all  days,  and  in  their  structure  and  lan- 
guage they  show  a  higher  age  than  almost  any  of  those 
intervening.  Only  one  of  the  six  has  gone  through  any 
material  change  from  its  first  draft,  and  they  undoubtedly 
date  back  to  the  days  of  the  Great  Synod. 

The  first  benediction  is  known  as  "Fathers"  (Aboth*),1 
and  rims  thus: 

'Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God — '"'and  God  of  our  fathers, 
God  of  Abraham,  God  of  Isaac,  and  God  of  Jacob — "the  great,  the 
mighty  and  the  fearful  God — 4God  Most  High — "who  bestoweth 
goodly  kindnesses — "and  is  Owner  of  all — 'and  remembereth  the 
piety  of  the  fathers — "and  bringeth  a  redeemer  to  their  children's 
children — "for  the  sake  of  his  name — 10in  love.  "King,  helper  and 
saviour  and — "shield;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  Shield  of  Abraham. 

We  have  marked  twelve  phrases  to  trace  them  separately 
to  their  Scriptural  origin.  That  of  (i)  has  been  shown  in 
a  former  chapter  in  speaking  of  the  benediction;  (2)  is  drawn 
from  the  vision  of  the  thorn  bush,  "The  Lord,  'the  God  of 
your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob  has  sent  me  to  you;"  (3)  from  the  verse  in 

(112) 


THE  CONSTANT  PARTS  OF  THE  TEFILLA  113 

Deuteronomy,  "For  the  Lord  your  God  is  the  God  of 
gods,  and  the  Lord  of  lords,  the  great,  the  mighty,  and  the 
fearful  God,"  etc.;  and  the  same  appellation  is  found  in 
Neh.  9:  32;  (4)  and  (6)  from  the  words  of  Melchizedek, 
"Blessed  be  Abram  to  God  most  high,  owner  of  heaven 
and  earth;"  (5)  from  Isaiah  63:  7,  "I  will  make  mention  of 
the  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord,  according  to  all  that  the 
Lord  has  bestowed  on  us;" (7)  from  the  promise  in  Leviticus 
26,  "I  will  remember  my  covenant  with  Jacob,  even  my  cov- 
enant," or  from  the  statement  in  Exodus,  "And  God 
heard  their  groans,  and  God  remembered  his  covenant  with 
Abraham."  There  is  some  difficulty  about  (8),  as  the  belief 
in  a  coming  Messiah  probably  did  not  prevail  when  this 
benediction  was  composed,  and  it  was  deemed  too  sacred 
for  interpolation  or  change;  but  the  redeemer  in  the  author's 
mind  was  in  the  past,  such  as  Moses,  whom  God  sent  to 
redeem  Israel  from  Egypt,  that  the  promise  made  to  the 
fathers  might  be  fulfilled,  as  we  are  repeatedly  told  in  the 
opening  chapters  of  Exodus.  He  brought  a  redeemer 
again,  say  Cyrus  or  Zerubbabel,  in  the  words  of  the  second 
Isaiah  (59:  20):  "A  redeemer  will  come  unto  Zion."2  (9) 
"For  the  sake  of  his  name"  God  redeemed  Israel  heretofore 
and  must  always  redeem  it  from  captivity;  in  the  words  of 
Ezekiel  (36:  23,  24),  "And  I  will  sanctify  my  great  name, 
etc.,  for  I  will  take  you  from  the  nations;"  (10)  "In  love" 
rests  on  Deuteronomy  7:  7,  8,  where  it  is  said  that  God 
chooses  Israel  not  for  its  merits  but  from  love. 

The  three  words  (n),  King,  Helper,  Saviour,  are  so  often 
applied  to  God  in  Scripture  that  the  particular  allusion  can 
hardly  be  fixed;  but  (12)  Shield,  and  particularly  Shield  of 
Abraham,  is  evidently  drawn  from  God's  words  addressed 
to  Abraham  in  Genesis  15:  i:  "I  am  thy  shield." 

The  Talmudic  Sages  are  at  one  in  holding  this  benedic- 
tion to  be  the  oldest  among  all  the  non-Biblical  parts  of  the 
service,  and  they  ascribe  it  with  good  reason  to  a  very  early 
age  of  the  Great  Synod. 
8 


1 14        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  second  benediction  is  known  as  "Powers"  (Gebitrotti), 
also  as  Revival  of  the  Dead,  and  runs  thus : 

II.  Thou  art  mighty  forever,  O  Lord;  thou  revivest  the  dead; 
art  great  to  save.     He  sustains  the  living  in  kindness,  he  reviveth 
the  dead  in  abundant  mercy,  supporteth  the  falling  and  healeth  the 
sick  and  looseneth  the  captives,  and  keepeth  up  his  faith  to  the 
sleepers  of  the  dust.     Who  is  like  thee,  master  of  mighty  deeds; 
and  who  compareth  with  thee,  King  that  killeth  and  bringeth  to 
life,  and  causeth  salvation  to  grow;  and  thou  art  trusted  to  revive 
the  dead;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  reviveth  the  dead. 

The  word  "Lord"  in  the  first  line  is  not  the  Tetragram- 
maton,  but  Adonai  in  letters  as  in  sound.  Some  phrases  are 
not  Biblical,  as  the  underlying  thought,  that  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, is  hardly  so.  "Supporteth  the  falling"  and  the  two 
following  predicates  occur  in  the  Psalms;  "killeth  and 
bringeth  to  life,"  in  the  prayer  of  Hannah. 

The  third  benediction  is  known  as  the  "Sanctification  of 
the  Name"  (Kcdushath  ha-Shcm},  and  is  very  short. 

III.  Thou  art  holy  and  thy   name   is   holy,  and  the  holy   ones 
praise  thee  every  day.     Selah   [Sefardim  add:  for  thou  art  a  great 
and  holy  God  and  King] ;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  Holy  God. 

The  holy  ones  who  praise  God  every  day  are  not  heavenly 
beings,  but  the  saints  on  earth/'  referred  to  in  Psalm  16: 
3.  The  word  "Selah"  (a  corruption  of  the  Greek  impera- 
tive psallc,  play!)  was  inserted,  as  in  many  Psalms,  as  a  com- 
mand to  the  musicians  in  the  Temple  Court  to  strike  up. 

The  word  God  in  the  close  of  the  benediction  is  not  Elo- 
him,  but  El,  the  one  Divine  name  oftenest  coupled  with 
adjectives,  as  in  phrases  (3)  and  (4)  of  the  first  benediction. 

In  public  worship,  when  the  "messenger  of  the  assem- 
bly" reads  the  prayer  aloud,  he  puts  in  place  of  all  but  the 
closing  formula,  "Blessed  be  thou,"  the  Thrice-Holy, 
popularly  known  as  the  Kcdnsha.  To  hear  this  spoken 
responsively  and  lo  take  part  in  the  responses  is  one  of  the 


THE  CONSTANT  PARTS  OF  THE  TEFILLA  115 

objects   which   the  good  Jew  has  in   mind  in   praying  in 
public  rather  than  in  private. 

The  shortest  form  is  the  following,  employed  by  the  Ger- 
mans on  work-days  and  also  in  the  afternoon  of  Sabbaths 
and  Festivals: 

(The  leader  opens) :  We  shall  hallow  thy  name  in  the  world, 
as  they  hallow  it  in  the  heavens  on  high;  as  it  is  written  by  the 
hands  of  thy  prophets  (Isa.  6:  3):  And  one  called  to  the  other  and 
said: 

(All  join):  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  full  is  the 
whole  earth  of  his  glory. 

(The  leader):  Opposite  to  them,  they  say  blessed  [Sefardim: 
Opposite  to  them  they  praise  and  say]. 

.(All  join):     Blessed  be  the  glory  of  God  from  its  place  (Ezek. 
3:  12). 

(The  leader):    And  in  Thy  holy  words  it  is  written: 

(All  join):  The  Lord  will  reign  forever,  thy  God,  O  Zion,  from 
generation  to  generation.  Halleluiah  (Ps.  146:  10). 

(The  leader) :  To  all  ages  we  will  tell  of  thy  greatness,  and  to 
all  eternity  we  will  proclaim  thy  holiness;  thy  praise,  our  God, 
shall  never  cease  from  our  mouth,  [Sefardim  begin:]  for  thou  art  a 
great,  a  holy  God  and  King. 

On  the  morning  of  Sabbaths  and  Festivals  the  words 
introducing  the  second  and  third  responses  are  greatly 
enlarged  in  a  strongly  poetic  vein;  the  authorship  of  the 
Psalm  verse  is  assigned  to  "David,  son  of  Jesse,  thy  right- 
eous Anointed." 

In  the  "additional"  prayer  of  Sabbaths  and  Festivals 
the  German  Kedusha  runs  thus: 

(Leader) :  We  shall  revere  and  sanctify  thee,  as  in  the  secret 
whisper  of  the  Holy  Seraphim,  who  sanctify  thy  name  in  holi- 
ness, as  it  is  written  by,  etc.  (to  "the  whole  earth  of  his  glory"). 

(The  leader  proceeds) :  Of  his  glory  the  earth  is  full,  his  attend- 
ants ask  each  other,  where  is  the  place  of  his  glory?  Opposite  to 
them  they  say:  Blessed! 

(All  join) :    Blessed  be  the  glory  of  the  Lord  from  its  place. 

(The  leader) :     May  he  from  his  place  turn  in  mercy  and  show 


1 16       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

favor  to  the  people  who  give  unity  to  his  name;  evening  and  morn- 
ing, each  day,  unceasingly,  in  love  they  twice  cry:  Hear! 

(All  join):  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is 
One. 

(The  leader) :  One  is  our  God,  One  our  Father,  One  our  King, 
One  our  Saviour;  he  will  sound  forth  to  us  in  his  mercy  again,  in 
the  presence  of  all  that  liveth,  the  words:  To  be  your  God. 

(All  join) :    I  am  the  Lord  your  God.4 

(The  Leader) :    And  in  thy  holy  words,  etc. 

The  Sefardim  employ  the  lines,  "We  shall  revere,"  on 
work-days  and  in  the  Sabbath  morning  service,  and 
they  introduce  for  the  more  solemn  occasion  of  the  "addi- 
tional" on  Sabbath  and  Festivals  the  following  introductory 
lines  (which  we  render  with  their  inversion  in  order  to  bring 
the  leading  word  to  the  front): 

The  crown  (Kether)  [O  Lord  our  God],  the  angels,  the  crowds 
on  high,  give  to  thee;  also  thy  people,  Israel,  who  are  gathered 
below,  all  of  them  as  one  sound  to  thee  the  Thrice-Holy:  as  it  is 
written,  etc. 

The  divine  names  as  bracketed  above  are  not  found  in  the 
oldest  liturgies.  The  Hasidim  have  adopted  this  form 
with  other  parts  of  the  Sefardic  ritual,  and  attach  import- 
ance to  its  fervid  ejaculation.  Kcthcr  has  indeed  become 
their  badge  of  recognition.5 

On  the  Day  of  Atonement  the  Kcdusha  with  five  re- 
sponses is  recited,  not  only  in  the  "additional"  prayer,  but  in 
all  the  others,  at  least  among  the  Germans. 

Reserving  in  thought  the  figure  IV  for  the  variable  middle 
parts  of  the  Prayer,  we  pass  now  to  the  last  three  benedic- 
tions. The  first  of  these  is  known  as  "The  Service"  (Aboda). 
Its  present  form  is  the  following: 

V.  Be  pleased,  O  Lord  our  God,  with  thy  people  Israel  and 
with  their  prayer  [and  return  the  service  to  the  innermost  of  thy 
House] ;  and  receive  with  favor  the  fire  offerings  of  Israel  and  their 
prayer;  and  may  the  service  of  Israel  thy  people  be  always  accept- 
able. [Sefardim  insert:  And  in  thy  great  mercies  thou  wilt 


THE  CONSTANT  PARTS  OF  THE  TEFILLA  117 

delight  in  us  and  accept  us]  [and  may  our  eyes  behold  thy  merci- 
ful return  to  Zion] ;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  [who  restoreth  his 
residence  to  Zion]. 

The  words  above  put  in  brackets,  "and  return,"  "and 
may  our  eyes,"  were  evidently  inserted  after  the  de- 
struction of  the  Temple;  and  the  close  of  the  benediction, 
"who  restoreth,"  was  at  the  same  time  substituted  for  the 
original  words,  which  are  still  employed  in  the  Synagogue 
when  the  priests  are  expected  to  impart  the  blessing,  viz.: 
"Thou  whom  alone  we  shall  serve  with  fear."0  The  words, 
"And  in  thy  great  mercies,"  were  probably  a  part  of 
the  old  benediction;  they  lead  well  up  to  its  closing  keynote. 

The  word  for  residence  is  Shechina,  the  divine  presence, 
which,  in  the  fond  belief  of  our  Sages,  left  Jerusalem  when 
the  Law  was  no  longer  discussed  by  the  Sanhedrin  in  the 
hewn-stone  chamber  of  the  destroyed  Temple.7 

The  next  benediction  is  called  "Thanks,"  perhaps  more 
correctly  "Acknowledgment"  (Hoda'ia).  When  it  is  re- 
peated all  join  with  the  leader  in  the  opening  words,  Modim 
anahnu  letch*  by  the  first  of  which  the  benediction  is  popu- 
larly known.  It  runs  thus: 

VI.  We  acknowledge  to  thee,  that  thou,  O  Lord,  art  our  God, 
and  the  God  of  our  fathers  forever  and  ever;  rock  of  our  life, 
shield  of  our  help!  thou  art  the  same  from  age  to  age.  We 
thank  thee  and  we  tell  thy  praise,  for  our  lives  that  are  deliv- 
ered in  thy  hands  and  for  our  souls  that  are  entrusted  to  thee,  and 
for  thy  miracles  that  are  with  us  every  day,  and  for  thy  wonders 
and  thy  kind  acts  that  are  of  every  time,  evening  and  morning  and 
noonday.  Thou  art  good;  for  thy  mercies  never  end;  thou  art 
merciful;  for  thy  kindness  is  never  full;  from  evermore  we  trust 
in  thee. 

And  for  all  these  things  may  thy  name  be  blessed  and  exalted, 
always  and  for  evermore. 

And  all  that  live  will  give  thanks  to  thee,  and  shall  truthfully 
praise  thy  [great]  name,  God,  our  salvation  and  help.  Selah 
[Sefardim  add:  the  good  God].  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  thy 
name  is  the  Good,  and  to  thee  it  is  fit  to  give  thanks. 


1 18       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  next  benediction  is  that  of  the  "Priestly  Blessing" 
(Bircath  Cohanim).  Before  the  leader  repeats  it  in  the  morn- 
ing or  in  the  additional  prayer  (on  the  Day  of  Atonement 
in  the  afternoon  also,  on  the  Ninth  of  Ab  only  in  the  after- 
noon), he  speaks  this  petition: 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  bless  us  with  the  threefold 
blessing  that  is  in  the  Tora,  which  is  written  by  Moses  thy  servant, 
that  is  spoken  by  Aaron  and  his  sons  the  priests,  thy  holy  people, 
that  is  to  say:  JMay  the  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee;  "may  the 
Lord  let  his  countenance  shine  unto  thee,  and  be  gracious  to  thee; 
3may  the  Lord  lift  his  countenance  to  thee,  and  give  thee  peace. 
[Sefardim  add  (Num.  6:  27):  So  shall  they  put  my  name  upon  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  I  will  bless  them.] 

After  each  of  the  three  blessings  the  people  answer: 
Such  be  the  will.9 

The  last  benediction  itself  in  its  fuller  form  runs  thus: 

VII.  bestow  peace,  happiness,  and  blessing,  grace,  kindness,  and 
mercy,  upon  us  and  upon  all  Israel  thy  people;  bless  us,  our 
Father,  even  all  of  us,  by  the  light  of  thy  countenance,  for  by  the 
light  of  thy  countenance  thou  hast  given  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  the 
law  of  life,  loving-kindness  and  righteousness  and  blessing  and 
mercy,  life,  and  peace;  and  it  is  good  in  thy  eyes  to  bless  thy 
people  Israel*  at  every  time  and  at  every  hour  with  thy  peace. 
|  Sefardim  substitute:  *with  much  strength  and  peace.]10 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  blesses  his  people  Israel  with 
peace. 

We  find  here  the  priestly  blessing  thrown  into  the  shape 
of  a  prayer,  while  the  close  in  the  Sefardic  modification  is 
drawn  from  the  last  verse  of  Psalm  29.  Those  of  the  Ger- 
man ritual  have  deemed  this  full  form  fit  only  for  the  fore- 
noon services,  when  that  blessing  can  be  delivered,  and 
have  contrived  for  the  evening  and  afternoon  prayers  a 
much  shorter  form,  thus: 

VII.  Thou  wilt  bestow  much  peace  forever  on  thy  people  Israel, 
for  thou  art,  O  King,  the  Master  of  all  Peace;  and  it  is  good  in 


THE  CONSTANT  PARTS  OF  THE  TEFILLA  119 

thy  eyes  to  bless  the  people  Israel  at  all  times,  at  every  time  and 
every  hour  with  thy  peace.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  blesseth 
his  people  Israel  with  peace.11 

The  Sefardim  use  the  full  form  in  the  Minha  and  even- 
ing as  well  as  in  the  morning'  services. 

We  find  no  evidence  that  the  first  three  benedictions  were 
recited  in  the  Temple  in  connection  with  the  sacerdotal 
functions;  but  the  last  three  were.12 

From  a  very  early  day  the  Prayer  has  been  introduced 
by  the  Psalm  verse  (51:  17),  "O  Lord  (Adonai),  open  my 
lips,  and  may  my  mouth  tell  thy  praise,"  and  has  wound  up 
with  another  (19:  15),  ''May  the  words  of  my  mouth,  the 
meditations  of  my  heart  be  acceptable  before  thee,  O  Lord, 
my  Rock  and  my  Redeemer."  They  are  well  chosen,  each 
for  its  purpose,  and  are  considered  by  the  Talmud  as  almost 
of  equal  age  and  sacredness  with  the  Prayer;  yet  they  only 
belong  to  the  silent  devotion,  and  are  net  repeated  by  the 
leader. 

When  the  Aboda  (Service)  is  put  back,  as  indicated  above, 
into  the  form  it  bore  before  the  fall  of  the  Temple,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  six  constant  parts  of  the  Prayer  do  not 
contain  a  single  word  of  un-Biblical  Hebrew,  and  only  one 
that  is  used  in  an  un-Biblical  sense,  Ncs,  which  in  classic 
Hebrew  means  a  banner,  but  stands  in  the  "Thanks"  for 
miracle. 

A  petition  found  in  the  Talmud  as  habitual  with  its 
author  has  become  a  pendant  to  the  Prayer  when  spoken 
silently.  The  Sefardim  put  the  verse,  Ps.  19:  15,  both 
before  and  after  it,  the  Germans  after  it  only: 

My  God,  guard  my  tongue  from  evil,  and  my  lips  from  speaking 
guile  (see  Ps.  34:  14).  May  my  soul  be  dumb  to  those  that  curse 
me;  be  it  (humble)  as  dust  to  all.  Open  my  heart  to  thy  law;  may 
my  soul  pursue  thy  commandments,  and  as  for  all  who  think  evil 
against  me,  do  speedily  defeat  their  counsel,  and  undo  their 
thought.  [Do  it  for  the  sake  of  thy  name;  do  it  for  the  sake  of  thy 
right  hand;  do  it  for  the  sake  of  thy  holiness;  do  it  for  the  sake  of 


120         IEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

the  Law.l    That  thy  beloved  may  be  delivered,  save  with  thy  right 
hand  and  answer  me  (Ps.  108:  7).13 

The  bracketed  part  is  of  later  origin,  flowing  probably 
from  a  Cabbalistic  source. 

The  Talmud  assigns  to  this  piece  no  place  in  the  order  of 
worship.  Abudraham,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  remarks 
that  some  "individuals"  recite  it  after  the  Prayer.  The 
great  Code  of  the  sixteenth  century  speaks  of  some  men  who 
recite  petitions  at  this  place.  '  But  at  present  the  piece  is 
found  in  the  service  books  of  all  the  old  rituals,  more 
through  its  merits  than  upon  any  authority. 

After  everything  else  the  worshipper  steps  back  with  these 
words,  which  are  also  the  conclusion  of  the  Kaddish: 

He  who  maketh  peace  in  his  high  places  (Job  25:  2),  may  he 
give  peace  to  us  and  to  all  Israel,  and  say  ye:  Amen.14 


CHAPTER  VII 

MODIFICATIONS    OF    THE    CONSTANT    PARTS 

A  FEW  changes  in  the  six  constant  benedictions  and  a  few 
insertions  which  are  made  in  them  on  certain  days  or  in 
certain  parts  of  the  year  must  now  be  noticed. 

First  come  those  which  are  made  on  the  first  ten  days 
of  Tishri,thatis,on  New  Year  and  Atonement  Days  and  the 
days  that  intervene.  They  refer  in  the  main  to  the  heavenly 
judgment  which  is  expected  and  to  the  character  of  King, 
which  more  than  at  other  times  is  assigned  to  God  at  this 
season. 

In  the  first  benediction  after  "in  love"  there  is  inserted: 

Remember  us  for  life,  O  King  who  delightest  in  life,  and  write 
us  down  in  the  book  of  life;  for  thy  sake,  living  God. 

In  Hebrew  the  adjective  comes  at  the  end,  and  is  the 
same  word  as  life.  Thus  a  petition  is  made  part  of  what 
otherwise  contains  only  confession  and  praise. 

In  the  second,  after  "causing  salvation  to  grow"  is  in- 
serted: 

Who  is  like  thee,  Father  of  mercy,  who  remembers  his  crea- 
tures to  life  in  mercy. 

In  the  third,  the  close  of  the  benediction,  "Holy  God,"  is 
changed  into  "Holy  King." 

In  the  last  but  one  there  is  inserted  before  the  last  para- 
graph : 

"O  write  down  for  a  happy  life  all  the  sons  of  thy  cove- 
nant;" again  the  only  petition  amid  confession  and  thanks. 

In  the  last  benediction  before  the  close  is  inserted: 

(121) 


122        JEU'ISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

May  we  be  remembered  and  written  in  the  book  of  life,  of  bless- 
ing, and  of  peace,  and  of  good  sustenance,  we  and  all  thy  people  the 
house  of  Israel,  even  for  happy  life  and  for  peace. 

And  the  close  is  made  to  read  thus:  "Blessed  be  them, 
O  Lord,  who  maketh  peace,"  but  only  in  the  German  Min- 
hag,  though  at  one  time  this  seems  to  have  been  the  form  in 
daily  use.1 

In  the  last  service  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  (Ne'ila),  the 
book  of  Judgment  is,  by  a  lively  imagination,  conceived  as 
already  written  in  our  favor;  it  only  needs  sealing,  hence 
the  above  insertions  then  become,  "seal  us  in  the  book  of 
life,"  "seal  for  a  happy  life,"  "may  we  be  remembered  and 
sealed,"  instead  of  "write"  or  "written"  or  "inscribed."2 

Second.  On  the  solemn  Days  of  Memorial  and  Atone- 
ment the  following  petition  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is 
inserted  before  the  close  of  the  "Holiness  of  the  Name,"  or 
third  benediction: 

And  now,  O  Lord  our  God,  put  thy  fear  over  all  thy  works,  and 
awe  for  thce  on  all  thou  hast  created:  may  all  thy  works  fear  thee, 
and  all  creatures  bow  before  thee,  and  all  become  one  band,  to  do 
thy  will  with  full  heart;  as  we  know,  O  Lord  our  God,  that  the 
dominion  is  with  thee,  strength  in  thy  hand,  and  might  in  thy  right 
arm.  and  thy  name  is  fearful  over  all  thy  creation.  And  now,  O 
Lord,  grant  honor  to  thy  people,  praise  to  thy  worshippers,  hope  to 
those  who  seek  thee,  and  a  free  speech  to  those  waiting  for  thee; 
gladness  to  thy  land  and  joy  to  thy  city;  a  growing  horn  to  David, 
thy  servant,  and  a  shining  lamp  to  the  son  of  Jesse,  thy  anointed, 
speedily  in  our  days.  Then  the  righteous  will  see  it  and  be  glad, 
the  upright  will  triumph,  and  the  pious  will  sing  for  joy;  wrong- 
doing will  shut  its  mouth  (Job  5:  16)  and  all  wickedness  will  end 
as  in  smoke,  when  thou  drivest  the  rule  of  haughtiness  from  off  the 
earth.  And  thou,  O  Lord,  wilt  reign  alone  over  all  thy  works,  in 
Zion,  the  dwelling  of  thy  glory,  in  Jerusalem,  thy  holy  city,  as  it  is 
written  in  thy  holy  words  (Ps.  146:  10) :  The  Lord  will  reign  for- 
ever, thy  God,  O  Zion,  from  generation  to  generation.  Hallelujah. 

The  next  and  closing  paragraph  has  at  times  been  used 
in  the  daily  service  as  a  substitute  for  the  usual  benediction, 


MODIFICATIONS  OF  THE  CONSTANT  PARTS          123 

in  which  the  phrase  "Holy  God"  is  taken  from  the  verse 
here  quoted: 

Thou  art  holy  and  thy  Name  is  fearful,  and  there  is  no  God 
beside  thee,  as  it  is  written  (Isa.  5:  16):  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
exalted  in  judgment,  and  the  Holy  God  is  sanctified  in  righteous- 
ness.3 

The  benediction  closes:  "The  Holy  King,"  as  on  the 
other  seven  days  of  penitence. 

Also,  on  New  Year  and  Atonement  Days,  only,  however, 
in  the  loud  recital,  and  according  to  the  German  custom 
only  in  the  Additional  service  and  in  Neila  (by  the  Sefardim 
also  in  the  morning  service),  the  following  petitions  (ar- 
ranged by  the  alphabet  or  a  part  thereof)  are  inserted  in  the 
last  benediction  after  the  request  for  a  favorable  entry  in 
the  book  of  life  and  before  the  very  close  or  "sealing"  of 
the  benediction: 

(Deut.  4:  4):  Ye  who  cling  by  the  Lord  your  God  are  all  alive 
this  day. 

This  day  thou  wilt  strengthen  us.     (Amen.) 

This  day  thou  wilt  bless  us.     (Amen.) 

This  day  thou  wilt  raise  our  stature.     (Amen.) 

This  day  thou  wilt  seek  us  out  for  pood.     (Amen.) 

This  day  thou  wilt  hear  our  supplication.     (Amen.) 

This  day  thou  wilt  hold  us  up  with  thy  righteous  hand. 

The  first  line  and  the  general  drift  is  held  in  common, 
but  the  number  and  choice  of  the  lines  differ  as  between 
the  rituals.4 

Third.  The  Jewish  year  is  divided  into  the  "days  of  the 
sun,"  beginning  on  the  first  day  of  the  Passover,  and  the 
"days  of  rain,"  beginning  with  the  eighth  of  the  Feast.  In 
the  half  year  of  rain,  or  of  fall  and  winter,  "they  mention  the 
powers  of  rain;"  that  is,  the  power  of  God  to  send  rain  is 
acknowledged.  This  is  done  by  inserting  in  the  second 
benediction  after  the  words,  "thou  revivest  the  dead;  art 


124        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

great  to  save,"  these:  "He  causes  the  wind  to  blow  and 
the  rain  to  descend."  Both  rituals  agree  in  these  words  for 
the  winter.  The  Mishna  bears  witness:  They  mention  the 
powers  of  rain  in  the  Resurrection  of  the  Dead.  The  Sefar- 
dim  say  in  the  summer  months:  "He  causeth  the  dew  to 
descend,"  as  they  did  in  Palestine,  where  dew  is  an  im- 
portant source  of  moisture  during  the  summer.  In  the 
northern  climates  inhabited  by  those  of  the  German  ritual, 
dew  is  less  important,  and  this  phrase  was  dropped  from 
the  Prayer  Book,  but  is  retained  in  the  Mahzor,  or  Festival 
Order,  for  the  first  day  of  Passover,  when  poetic  hymns 
and  prayers  about  dew  are  recited,  as  there  are  similar 
hymns  and  prayers  on  the  eighth  day  of  the  Feast  for  the 
blessings  of  rain. 

The  mention  of  dew  in  connection  with  the  revival  of  the 
dead  was  suggested  by  the  verse,  Isa.  26:  19.  In  the  poetic 
pieces,  which,  on  the  solemn  days,  the  Germans  insert  in 
the  repetition  of  the  Prayer,  dew  and  the  revival  of  the  dead 
are  always  named  in  one  breath. 

In  the  German  ritual,  after  poetical  effusions,  the  leader, 
in  repeating  the  Additional  Prayer  on  the  first  day  of  Pass- 
over, intones: 

For  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  causest*  the  dew  to  descend. 
For  a  blessing,  not  for  a  curse.     (All  answer)  Amen. 
For  plenty,  not  for  failure.     Amen. 
For  life,  not  for  death.     Amen. 

On  the  eighth  of  the  Feast  the  course  is  the  same,  except 
that  he  says  in  the  first  line:  *  the  wind  to  blow  and  the 
rain  to  descend.5 

l:onrth.  ( )n  Xew  Moons  and  Middle  Days,  except  in  the 
Additional  service,  the  Prayer  is  the  same  as  on  working- 
days,  only  the  following  petition  is  inserted  in  the  Aboda 
before  "bring  back,"  in  translating  which  we  omit  some 
of  the  synonyms  and  transpose  the  verbs  and  nouns  in  the 
first  part: 


MOD  I  PICA  TIONS  OF  THE  CONSTANT  PARTS          \  25 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers!  May  the  remembrance  of  our- 
selves and  of  our  fathers,  and  of  thy  anointed  servant,  the  son  of 
David,  and  of  thy  holy  city  Jerusalem,  and  of  all  Israel  thy  people, 
arise  and  come,  be  seen  and  heard  before  thee,  on  this  day  of  the 
(New  Moon)  (Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread)  (Feast  of  Booths) 
unto  deliverance,  happiness,  life,  and  peace;  remember  us  thereon, 
O  Lord  our  God,  for  happiness;1  visit  us  for  blessings2;  save  us 
unto  life3;  and  with  words  of  help  and  mercy,  spare  and  favor  us, 
show  us  mercy!  save  us!  for  to  thee  our  eyes  are  turned:  thou  art 
the  gracious  and  merciful  God  and  King. 

When  this  piece  is  read  by  the  leader,  the  others  answer 
Amen  at  the  points  marked  (i),  (2),  (j).6 

Fifth.  On  Hanucca  and  Purim  special  thanks  are  offered, 
and  inserted  in  the  last  benediction  but  one  (Thanks}  after 
the  words,  "from  everlasting  we  hope  in  thee." 

On  both  occasions: 

For  the  miracles  and  deliverance,  for  the  salvation  and  mighty 
deeds  and  battles,  which  thou  hast  wrought  for  our  fathers  in  those 
days  at  this  season. 

Then  on  Purim: 

In  the  days  of  Mordecai  and  Esther,  at  Susa,  when  the  wicked 
Haman  rose  against  them,  and  sought  to  kill  and  destroy  all  the 
Jews,  young  and  old,  women  and  children,  on  one  day,  the  thir- 
teenth day  of  Adar,  the  twelfth  month,  and  to  plunder  their  spoil; 
but  thou,  in  thy  great  mercy,  didst  defeat  his  plan  and  upset  his 
counsel,  and  requite  his  deserts  upon  his  head,  and  they  hanged 
him  and  his  sons  upon  the  tree. 

This  account  is  given  on  Hanucca: 

In  the  days  of  Mattathia,  son  of  Johanan,  the  Hasmonean  High 
Priest,  and  of  his  sons,  when  a  wicked  Greek  kingdom  arose 
against  Israel,  to  make  them  forget  thy  law  and  transgress  thy 
decrees;  but  thou  didst  in  thy  great  mercy  stand  by  them  in  their 
distress,  plead  their  quarrel,  judge  their  cause,  wreak  their  ven- 
geance; delivering  the  strong  into  the  hands  of  the  weak,  the  many 
into  the  hands  of  the  few,  the  unclean  into  the  hands  of  the  pure 
(etc.);  and  thereafter  came  thy  children  to  thy  sanctuary,  cleared 


126       JEWISH  SERl'ICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

thy  Temple  (etc.). and  lit  lamps  in  thy  sacred  courts, and  established 
these  eight  days  of  Hanucca,  to  give  thanks  and  praise  to  thy  great 
Name. 

The  account  of  the  Maccabean  wars  here  given  is  true 
as  far  as  it  goes,  except  that  Mattathia  never  was  a  High 
Priest;  but  it  leaves  a  false  impression.  The  reader  is  apt 
to  believe  that  the  re-conquest  of  the  Temple  ended  the 
struggle.  But,  in  fact,  independence  was  attained  only 
after  twenty-five  years  of  almost  uninterrupted  fighting, 
while  the  result  which  the  feast  of  Hanucca  commemorates 
was  reached  in  three  years. 

That  Hanucca  and  Purim  are  mentioned  in  "Thanks"  is 
spoken  of  in  the  Talmud  as  a  matter  of  course.7 

Sixth.  It  was  formerly  the  custom  that  the  "priests" 
would,  on  every  morning  at  the  Synagogue,  deliver  the 
blessing;  on  Sabbath  and  Festivals  in  the  morning  service 
and  in  the  "Additional,"  too,  on  fast  days  in  the  Minha  ser- 
vice. For  several  hundred  years  they  have  done  it  only  on 
the  Festivals  and  generally  in  the  "Additional"  service, 
though  the  morning  service  would  be  more  appropriate, 
as  men  should  perform  a  religious  duty  as  early  in  the 
morning  as  they  can  and  before  breakfast.  The  change 
from  the  first  to  the  second  service  took  place  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  and  on  musical  grounds;  that  is,  because  a 
better  trained  singer  would  lead  in  the  latter  service. 

Now  whenever  the  priests  are  desired  to  do  their  sacred 
work,  the  leader  calls  upon  them  by  a  pre-arranged  and 
well-known  sign.  In  the  slboda,  after  the  words,  "acceptable 
before  thee,"  he  proceeds: 

-May  our  supplication  be  pleasant  before  thee  like  burnt-offering 
and  sacrifice.  O  thou  Merciful  Being,  in  thy  great  mercy  restore 
thy  presence  to  Zion  and  the  order  of  service  to  Jerusalem.  May 
our  eyes  behold  thy  return  to  Zion  in  mercy,  and  there  we  shall 
serve  thee  in  awe,  as  in  the  clays  of  okl  and  in  former  years  (see 
Mai.  ->:  2). 


MODIFICATIONS  OF  THE  CONSTANT  PARTS          127 

And  then  he  closes  the  benediction,  as  shown  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  "thou  whom  alone  we  will  serve  in 
fear." 

The  benediction  of  thanks  follows  as  usual,  and  the  leader 
as  at  other  times  reads  the  petition  which  introduces  the 
blessings;  whereupon  the  "priests"  say  aloud: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  has 
sanctified  us  with  the  sanctity  of  Aaron,  and  has  commanded  us  to 
lovingly  bless  his  people  Israel. 

The  words  are  given  out  by  the  leader  from  a  book  before 
him;  the  priests  repeat  them  one  by  one. 

To  each  of  the  three  benedictions  those  present  answer 
Amen.  It  is  needless  to  copy  here  the  verses  which  are 
given  to  the  congregation  to  read  to  keep  them  from  star- 
ing impertinently  at  the  priests  during  their  high  function.8 

Seventh.  In  the  morning  of  the  Ninth  of  Ab  the  priests 
may  not  confer  the  blessing,  nor  does  the  reader  recite  it. 
But  the  Sefardim  go  further.  In  the  evening  and  morning 
service  for  this  sad  day  they  cut  down  the  last  benediction, 
based  on  this  blessing,  to  these  few  words : 

Thou  who  makest  peace,  bless  thy  people  Israel  with  much 
strength  and  peace,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  of  peace.  Blessed  be 
thou,  O  Lord,  maker  of  peace. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  WORK-DAY  BENEDICTIONS 

THE  Mishna  teaches  that  when  a  public  fast  is  proclaimed 
in  a  time  of  drouth,  the  man  chosen  to  pray  recites  twenty- 
four  benedictions,  "the  eighteen  of  every  day"  and  six  more. 
And  in  another  passage  we  find:  They  recite  every  day 
eighteen  benedictions,  says  R.  Gamaliel;  R.  Joshua  says, 
an  abstract  of  eighteen.  Here  is  the  oldest  evidence  for  the 
number  eighteen,  which  is  still  the  most  popular  name  for 
the  Tefilla,  or  Prayer.1 

There  being  the  six  constant  benedictions  at  the  begin- 
ning and  end,  twelve  should  be  left  for  the  middle.  But  there 
are  at  present  thirteen,  all  of  them  in  the  main  petitions  for 
divine  help.  We  shall  see  which  of  them  is  the  late  intruder. 

I.  Thou  grantest  knowledge  to  man,  and  teachest  mortals  under- 
standing;* grant  us  from  thyself  knowledge,  understanding,  and 
prudence;  blessed  be  them,  O  Lord,  who  grantest  knowledge. 

In  the  evening  service  after  a  Sabbath  or  Festival  there 

is  inserted  at  *: 

[Thou  hast  favored  us  to  know  thy  law,  and  hast  taught  us  to  do 
the  ordinances  of  thy  will],  and  hast  divided,  O  Lord  our  God, 
between  holy  and  unholy,  between  light  and  darkness,  between 
Israel  and  the  nations,  between  the  Sabbath  and  the  six  days  of 
work.  Our  Father,  our  King,  let  the  coming  days  begin  in  peace, 
free  from  all  sin,  clean  from  all  wrong,  and  firm  in  the  fear  of  thee. 

R.  Akiba  proposed  to  put  this  Separation  (Habdala)  into 
another  benediction  by  itself,  but  was  overruled,  because 
"our  Sages  have  instituted  eighteen,"  not  nineteen.  The 

(128) 


THE  WORK-DAY  BENEDICTIONS  1 29 

bracketed  part,  a  needless  repetition,  is  not  found  in  the 
oldest  service  books.2 

II.  Bring  us  back,  our  Father,  to  thy  Law;  keep  us  near,  our 
King,  to  thy  service,  and  cause  us  to  return  in  perfect  repentance 
before  thee;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  acceptest  repentance. 

The  Hebrew  word  for  repentance  (Teshuba),  literally  "re- 
turn," means  in  religious  parlance  the  turning  back  from 
a  wicked  to  a  God-fearing  life.  It  never,  either  in  the  Bible 
or  in  the  older  liturgy,  stands  for  acts  of  penance  or  feel- 
ings of  regret  for  sins  committed;  it  does  sometimes  take 
such  a  meaning  in  the  later  Cabbala,  as  a  sort  of  reflex  from 
Christianity. 

III.  Forgive  us,   our   Father,  for  we  have   sinned;   pardon  us, 
our  King,  for  we  have  transgressed;  for  thou  pardonest  and  for- 
givest.     Blessed  be  thou,   O    Lord,  the  gracious,  who   often  for- 
givest. 

The  second  and  the  third  benediction  each  contains  a  non- 
Biblical  root;  that  of  the  verb  which  we  render  "to  return," 
which  is,  however,  pure  Hebrew,  and  that  rendered  "par- 
don," which  is  rather  Aramaic.  The  first  was  chosen  to 
avoid  a  repetition  of  the  root  contained  in  Teshuba  (repent- 
ance); the  other  to  keep  up  the  parallelism  of  the  two  half- 
lines:  Forgive — pardon;  Father — King;  sinned — trans- 
gressed, in  the  style  which  pervades  all  the  poetical  books 
of  the  Bible.  Between  sin  and  transgression  there  is,  how- 
ever, a  broad  distinction;  the  former  being  the  result  of 
carelessness,  ignorance,  or  weakness;  the  latter,  of  defiance. 

IV.  Look   but   upon    our   affliction,   and   plead   our   cause,    and 
redeem  us  speedily  for  the  sake  of  thy  name;  for  thou  art  a  powerful 
redeemer;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  Redeemer  of  Israel. 

Unlike  some  great  Hebrew  scholars,  I  do  not  believe 
that  this  petition  for  help  in  need  was  not  composed  or  used 
during  the  reign  of  the  Hasmoneans,  because  the  country 
9 


1 30       JE WISH  SER  VICES  IN  S YNA GOG UE  A ND  HOME 

was  prosperous,  nor  in  that  of  Herod,  because  he  would 
have  forbidden  it  as  an  aspersion  on  his  government.  The 
best  of  times  leaves  room  enough  for  improvement.  Samaria 
at  a  few  miles  distance  from  the  capital  stood  out  defiantly, 
hindering  the  union  of  Israel  into  one  people.  War  threat- 
ened from  abroad;  civil  strife  from  within.  There  were 
many  short  crops,  a  few  famines.  The  Jews  in  the  disper- 
sion, in  Alexandria,  on  the  Euphrates,  in  Rome,  often  suf- 
fered from  persecution.  There  is  no  nation  nor  church  that 
does  not,  in  a  like  strain,  pray  to  God  for  help.  And  Herod 
would  not  any  more  than  Czar  Alexander  III  have  forbid- 
den such  a  prayer. 

V.  Heal  us  and  we  shall  be  healed;   save  us  and  we  shall  be 
saved;  for  thou  art  our  praise.     (See  Jer.   17:   14.)     And  bring  a 
full  healing  for  all  our  sores;  for  thou,  God,  King,  art  a  true  and 
merciful  physician;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  healest  the  sick 
of  his  people  Israel.     (See  Ex.  15:  26.) 

So  far  the  Sefardic  forms  differ  from  the  German  forms 
here  given  only  by  adding  here  and  there  a  few  expletive 
words. 

VI.  Bless  for  us,  O   Lord  our  God,  this  year  and  all  kinds  of 
its  produce  for  the  best;  and  give  (dew  and  rain  for)  a  blessing 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth;  fill  us  from  thy  bounty,  and  bless  our 
year  that  it  be  as  the  good  years.     Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who 
blessest  the  years. 

The  words  "dew  and  rain  for"  are  inserted  in  winter, 
when,  in  the  old  seats  of  the  dispersion,  rain  was  needed 
to  ripen  the  crops;  beginning  with  the  sixtieth  day  after 
the  autumnal  equinox  and  ending  with  the  Passover.  As 
the  equinoxes  were  for  this  purpose  counted  by  the  Julian 
year,  the  sixtieth  day  is  now  December  4th.  There 
was  much  discussion  between  the  Babylonians  and  Pales- 
tinians, and  formerly  the  Jews  of  several  countries  were 
divided  in  their  allegiance.  Modern  Rabbis,  like  Dr. 
Geiger,  have  sensibly  proposed  to  pray  all  the  year  around 


THE  WORK- DA  ) '  BENEDICTIONS  1 3 1 

that  God  may  give  dew  and  rain  for  a  blessing;  we  do  not 
pray  for  floods  or  cloud-bursts.  It  is  natural  to  ask  for  rain 
in  this  benediction;  the  Mishna  already  bears  witness:  They 
ask  for  rain  in  the  Blessing  of  the  Years. 

In  the  Sefardic  ritual  the  prayer  which  introduces  the 
benediction  is  different  throughout  on  the  days  when  rain 
is  asked  for  and  those  on  which  it  is  not.  The  latter  takes 
the  following  shape,  and  contains  a  request  for  dew: 

VI.  Bless  us,  O  our  Father,  in  all  the  work  of  our  hands,  and 
bless  our  year  with  gracious,  blessed,  and  kindly  dews;  be  its  end 
life,  plenty,  and  peace  as  in  good  jears;  for  thou,  O  God,  art  good 
and  doest  good,  and  blessest  the  years;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord, 
who  blessest  the  years. 

Here  are  thirty  Hebrew  words;  the  Sefardic  benediction 
for  the  rainy  season  contains  eighty-five.3 

VII.  Blow  the  great  trumpet  (Shofar)  for  our  freedom,  and  lift 
a  banner  to  gather  our  exiles,  and  gather  us  into  one  body  from  the 
four  corners  of  the  earth;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  gatherest 
the  outcasts  of  his  people  Israel. 

The  request  or  introductory  part  undoubtedly  under- 
went some  changes  when  the  Temple  was  destroyed,  when 
the  last  shreds  of  autonomy  were  taken  from  the  Jews  of 
Palestine,  and  the  great  majority  of  the  Jews  were  in 
exile.  But  there  could  have  been  such  a  benediction, 
closing  as  this  does,  while  the  Temple  stood.  While  the 
House  of  David  reigned,  Isaiah  said  (Isa.  27:  13): 
"It  shall  come  to  pass  on  that  day,  that  the  great  trumpet 
shall  be  blown,  and  they  shall  come  that  perish  in  the  land  of 
Assyria,  and  that  are  outcasts  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  And 
Psalm  1 06,  written  during  the  second  Commonwealth, 
says  at  its  close:  "Save  us,  O  Lord,  and  gather  us  from 
the  nations."  Psalm  147  praises  God  who  "gathers  the 
outcasts  of  Israel."  The  Jewish  settlements  in  Babylonia 
and  Egypt  might  have  been  a  cause  of  pride;  outposts  of 
the  true  faith  among  the  heathen;  seed-plants  of  a  universal 


1 32        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

church ;  but  from  these  Psalms  it  is  apparent  that  the  Pales- 
tinian Sages  who  wrote  Psalms,  or  admitted  them  into  the 
Canon,  did  not  look  at  matters  in  that  light. 
The  same  remark  applies  to  the  next  benediction: 

VIII.  Restore  our  judges  as  at  the  first,  and  our  counsellors  as 
at  the  beginning  (Isa.  i:  26),  and  remove  from  us  grief  and  sigh- 
ing; reign  over  us,  thou,  O  Lord,  alone  in  kindness  and  mercy, 
and  justify  us  in  the  judgment.     Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,*  the 
King  who  lovest  righteousness  and  justice.     (On  the  penitential 
days:*  the  King  of  justice.) 

This  benediction  may  have  been  drawn  up  just  as  it  stands, 
when  men  in  full  touch  with  the  most  religious  and  patriotic 
feeling  rilled  the  highest  courts;  for  such  men  would  natur- 
ally look  back  to  the  days  of  Moses  and  his  seventy  associ- 
ates, or  even  to  King  David  and  the  judges  whom  he  in- 
stalled, though  they  exceeded  David  and  his  contemporaries 
both  in  learning  and  in  the  love  of  justice.  Deeply  religious 
men  have  ever  looked  up  with  respect  to  the  heroic  age  of 
the  fathers,  and  the  prediction  of  Isaiah,  that  there  should 
again  be  judges  as  in  the  olden  days,  became  to  them  a 
prayer. 

The  next  benediction  is  found  in  many  forms,  due  not  so 
much  to  differing  tastes  among  Jews  as  to  the  whims  of  this 
or  that  Christian  censor. 

IX.  May  no  hope  be  left  to  the  slanderers;  may  all  wickedness 
perish  as  in  a  moment;  may  all  thy  enemies  be  soon  cut  off,  and 
do   thou    speedily   uproot   the   haughty,    and   shatter   and   humble 
them  speedily  in  our  days;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  strikest 
down  enemies,  and  humblest  the  haughty. 

This  is  from  a  Wilna  edition  of  1892.  A  note  explains 
slanderers  by  the  well-known  Hebrew  word  for  informers. 
Such  there  were  in  Roman  times,  who  for  gain  delivered 
their  brethren  over  to  the  heartless  oppressor,  and  brought 
many  to  a  painful  death.  The  invocation  against  these 
wretches  is  the  same  in  all  editions. 


THE  WORK-DAY  BENEDICTIONS  133 

In  a  South  German  Prayer  Book  of  1821  the  second 
clause  is  not  so  liberal;  unlike  the  noble  wife  of  R.  Me'ir, 
who  wished  only  that  sins,  not  sinners,  would  perish,  the 
editor  frames  it:  "May  all  doers  of  wickedness  perish,  etc." 
On  the  other  hand  he  is  satisfied  with  humbling  the  haughty, 
and  leaves  off  the  uprooting  and  shattering. 

The  Sefardic  service  book,  printed  in  Amsterdam  in  1658, 
differs  from  both  by  the  request  for  the  uprooting  of  the 
"kingdom  of  wickedness."  Elsewhere  on  the  Continent 
that  phrase  was  suppressed  by  the  censorship. 

The  Sefardic  prayer  books  published  in  England  and 
America,  free  from  all  constraint,  have  it:  "May  all  Minim 
perish;"  they  render  this  word  by  apostates,  and  such  is  un- 
doubtedly the  old  form. 

A  Barai'tha  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud  gives  this  account 
of  Benediction  IX: 

"Simeon,  the  cotton  dealer,  arranged  the  eighteen  bene- 
dictions in  order  before  Rabban  Gamaliel  (the  Second, 
about  100)  at  Jamnia;  then  R.  Gamaliel  said  to  the  Sages: 
Who  can  draw  up  a  benediction  about  the  Sadducees? 
Then  Samuel  the  Little  arose,  and  drew  it  up.  Next  year 
he  had  forgotten  it." 

The  Talmud,  speaking  at  a  later  date,  remarks:  If  the 
leader  makes  a  mistake  about  this  benediction  he  is  stopped, 
for  they  suspect  him  of  being  an  apostate  (Min).4 

Though  all  prayer  books  now  agree  on  "Slanderers" 
(Malshinim)  in  the  first  petition,  and  though  there ,  are 
strong  reasons  for  using  such  a  word,  it  was  originally 
"Perverts"  (Mumarim  or  Mcshummadim).  Both  Christians 
and  Mohammedans  objected  to  hearing  converts  to  their 
faith  openly  cursed,  and  the  words,  "kingdom  of  haughti- 
ness," were  taken  as  a  direct  attack  upon  every  govern- 
ment under  which  the  Jews  lived,  and  had  to  bfc  dropped  in 
many  places  under  outside  pressure. 

From  all  these  testimonies  different  inferences  have  been 
drawn  by  modern  scholars.  Some  maintain  that  there  had 


134        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

been  a  prayer  against  the  Sadducees  in  earlier  times,  which 
had  fallen  into  disuse,  and  that  R.  Gamaliel  of  Janmia 
wished  to  have  a  similar  prayer  drawn  up  against  the  in- 
ternal enemies  of  Judaism  of  his  own  time.  There  is  hardly 
evidence  enough  to  sustain  such  a  position.  The  Patriarch 
would  have  known  the  old  formula,  and  need  not  have  de- 
puted Samuel  the  Little  to  draw  up  another.  The  more 
natural  inference  is  this:  During  the  time  of  the  Patri- 
archate at  Jamnia  the  Sadducees  were  still  dangerous,  and 
were  designated  as  Minim  (Sectaries),  as  they  are  also  called 
in  a  section  of  the  Mishna  which  speaks  of  "mischievous 
Minim  who  said  there  is  only  one  world."  Not  long  after- 
wards they  became  few  and  harmless,  and  gradually  disap- 
peared. Meanwhile  Jewish  or  Ebionite  Christians  became 
numerous  in  Palestine;  the  word  Minim  was  transferred  to 
them.  The  new  faith  made  much  progress  among  the  un- 
learned, the  "People  of  the  Land."  Without  being  changed, 
the  formula  was  in  thought  applied  to  them,  for  they  threat- 
ened great  clanger  to  Israel's  further  existence  as  a  religious 
community.  The  prayer  that  they  should  speedily  perish 
was  in  one  sense  fulfilled;  for  in  the  third  century  they  were 
absorbed  in  the  Catholic  Church;  they  became  simply  Gen- 
tiles. Toward  such  the  Jew  has  never  shown  any  ani- 
mosity, except  when  persecuted  by  them;  they  were  to 
them  in  peace  friends,  in  war  enemies.  The  Christians  of 
our  day  are  not  Minim,  that  is,  Jewish  sectaries,  and  need 
not  take  offence  at  the  word,  which  at  one  time  denoted  a 
part  of  their  religious  progenitors.5 

X.  May  thy  mercies,  O  Lord  our  God,  be  aroused  over  the 
righteous,  and  over  the  pious,  and  over  the  elders  of  thy  people, 
tlie  House  of  Israel,  and  over  the  remnant  of  their  scribes,  and 
over  the  righteous  converts,  and  over  us;  and  give  a  goodly  reward 
to  those  who  truly  trust  in  thy  name;  and  set  our  share  with 
them  forever;  and  may  we  not  come  to  shame  for  that  we  have 
trusted  in  thee;  blessed  IK-  thou,  ()  Lord,  support  and  trust  to  the 
righteous. 


THE  irORK'-D AY  BENEDICTIONS  135 

The  "righteous,"  named  first  in  the  request  and  alone  at 
the  close,  are  to  be  understood  in  a  general  sense,  not  as  a 
party  or  a  class.  Hence  the  benediction  may  have  been 
written  before  any  of  the  events  happened  which  gave  rise 
to  the  classes  prayed  for.  The  "pious"  are  those  intensely 
patriotic  men  who,  gathering  around  Mattathia,  bore  the 
brunt  of  the  fight  against  Antiochus;  the  "elders"  are  those 
who  reached  that  office  through  learning  and  piety,  not  by 
wealth  or  priestly  descent;  the  "remnant  of  their  scribes" 
probably  referred  to  the  Pharisaic  scholars  who  escaped 
the  slaughter  ordered  by  Alexander  Jannaeus,  and  who 
were,  at  the  instance  of  his  wife,  Salome,  recalled  to  the 
Sanhedrin.  The  "righteous  converts"  are  Gentiles  who  take 
upon  themselves  the  whole  Mosaic  Law,  while  "converts  of 
the  gate"  only  bind  themselves  to  monotheism  and  to  the 
leading  rules  of  the  moral  law.  As  there  had  been  thou- 
sands of  conversions  in  Galilee  at  a  very  early  day,  as  the 
Idumeans  were  converted  en  masse  in  the  reign  of  John 
Hyrcanus,  and  as  many  of  the  heathen  were  converted  while 
the  Temple  stood,  it  is  hard  to  say  when  the  reference  to  the 
"righteous  converts"  was  inserted. 

XI.  Return  in  mercy  to  thy  city  [Jerusalem]  and  dwell  in  her 
midst  as  them  hast  spoken;  build  it  speedily  in  our  days  as  an  ever- 
lasting structure  [and  set  up  speedily  therein  the  throne  of  DavidJ. 
Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  builder  of  Jerusalem. 

The  parts  in  brackets  are  omitted  in  the  Sefardic  ritual, 
at  least  according  to  the  older  standards.  The  petition 
about  the  throne  of  David  anticipates  the  next  number. 

This  benediction  is  older  than  the  destruction  of  the  city; 
it  is  based  on  the  words  of  Psalm  147,  "the  Lord  buildeth 
Jerusalem,"  and  it  might  have  been  spoken  in  its  earliest 
days  pretty  much  as  in  the  short  form  used  by  the  Sefardim. 
The  first  clause  in  the  German  rendition  is,  of  course,  a  later 
addition. 

On  the  Ninth  of  Ab  in  the  afternoon  service  the  following 


136       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  ANt)  HOME 

sad  reflections  are  inserted  in  XII  before  the  close  of  the 
benediction,  and  this  is  also  modified: 

Comfort,  O  Lord  our  God,  the  mourners  of  Zion  and  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  mourning,  wasted,  despised,  and  desolate  city;  she 
mourns  for  the  loss  of  her  children;  she  is  wasted  of  her  dwell- 
ings; she  is  despised  and  without  her  glory  and  desolate  without 
inhabitants.  She  sitteth  and  her  head  is  veiled,  like  a  barren  woman 
who  has  not  borne.  The  legions  swallowed  her,  idol  worshippers 
conquered  her,  and  they  took  off  thy  people  Israel  by  the  sword, 
and  killed  wantonly  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  Therefore  Zion 
weeps  bitterly,  and  Jerusalem  lifts  her  voice;  my  heart,  my  heart 
for  the  slain!  my  inwards,  my  inwards  for  the  slain!  But  thou,  O 
Lord,  hast  burned  her  with  fire,  and  with  fire  thou  wilt  hereafter 
build  her,  as  it  is  said  (Zech.  2:  9):  I  shall  be  unto  her,  says 
the  Lord,  a  wall  of  fire  round  about,  and  I  shall  be  for  glory  in  her 
midst.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  comfortest  Zion  and  buildest 
Jerusalem. 

This  is  the  German  form;  the  Sefardic  is  somewhat 
shorter.  That  given  in  the  Talmud  begins  with  the  word, 
"Have  mercy"  (Rahciii),  not  as  at  present  "Comfort" 
(Nahem).* 

The  greatest  difficulty  hangs  over  the  next  benediction: 

XII.  Let  the  sprout  of  thy  servant  David  grow  speedily,  and  may 
his  horn  be  high  through  thy  salvation;  because  for  thy  salvation 
we  hope  every  clay.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  causes  the  horn 
of  salvation  to  grow. 

The  two  rituals  agree  here  in  every  word. 

The  close  of  the  benediction  does  not  point  to  an  ex- 
pected Messiah;  the  first  part  of  the  short  introduction  may 
be  understood  in  such  a  sense.  As  only  the  closing  words 
were  originally  fixed,  all  the  rest  being  liquid  and  change- 
able, the  antiquity  of  XII  could  be  maintained  on  the  same 
ground  as  that  of  VII,  VIII,  and  X. 

When  during  the  reign  of  Herod  the  Messianic  idea  be- 
gan to  rise  in  many  minds,  those  full  of  it  may  have  ex- 
pressed their  hopes  and  wishes  on  that  subject  when  about 
to  bless  him  who  raises  the  horn  of  salvation,  and  when 


THE  WORK-DAY  BENEDICTIONS  137 

Simeon,  the  cotton  dealer,  came  to  draw  up  his  fixed  forms 
at  Jamnia,  the  prayer  for  a  speedy  advent  had  become  a 
part  of  this  benediction. 

There  is  another  ground  on  which  to  maintain  the  place 
of  this  benediction  in  the  work-day  Amida  as  first  consti- 
tuted. Though  the  hope  in  a  world-saving  Messiah  may 
have  only  taken  shape  in  the  last  years  of  Herod's  reign, 
yet  during  much,  perhaps  during  all  the  time  of  the  second 
Temple,  a  feeling  prevailed  that  the  restoration  of  the 
House  of  David  on  the  throne  would  mean  the  nation's  wel- 
fare and  glory,  and  be  the  surest  mark  of  God's  favor.  The 
next  King  of  that  House  need  not  be  a  precursor  of  the 
millennium,  nor  an  inspired  poet  like  David,  but  only  a 
righteous  man  and  gallant  patriot  such  as  King  Josiah  was. 
He  would  marry  and  have  children ;  he  would  die  and  leave 
his  kingdom  to  his  eldest  son.  This  idea  runs  through  sev- 
eral Psalms  that  are  clearly  post-exilic,  for  instance,  89  and 
132.  Now  the  words  of  request  in  benediction  XII  ask  for 
no  more  than  such  a  King  of  David's  seed,  not  for  a  Mes- 
siah in  the  later  Jewish  or  in  the  Christian  sense. 

But  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  seems  in  two  passages  to  ig- 
nore Benediction  XII  or  to  combine  it  with  the  preceding 
one,  and  an  old  Midrash  gives  seventeen  as  the  original  tale 
of  benedictions,  and  rather  implies  that  XII  was  added  after 
IX.7 

Still  the  weight  of  evidence  and  reason  seems  to  lie  on 
the  side  of  the  common  opinion :  that  the  work-day  benedic- 
tions were  originally  twelve,  and  that  IX  was  added  at  the 
instance  o<f  R.  Gamaliel  II  to  these  twelve.8 

XIII.  Hear  our  voice,  O  Lord  our  God,  spare  and  have  mercy 
upon  us,  and  receive  in  love  and  favor  our  prayer;  for  thou  art  the 
God  who  hearest  prayers  and  supplications;  and  do  not,  thou  our 
King,  send  us  back  empty-handed  from  thy  presence.  For  thou 
hearest  the  prayers  of  thy  people  Israel  in  mercy.  (Sefardim  say: 
For  thou  hearest  the  prayer  of  every  mouth).  Blessed  be  thou,  O 
Lord,  he  who  heareth  prayer.  (See  Ps.  65:  3.) 


138        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

After  the  word  "presence"  the  devout  Israelite  will  bring 
forward,  in  the  silent  Prayer,  any  thing  that  is  upon  his  heart, 
and  ask  God's  help,  either  for  himself  or  his  household  or 
for  the  community.  On  the  public  fasts,  those  who  do  fast 
insert  in  this  place  the  following  petition: 

Answer  us,  O  Lord,  answer  us  on  the  day  of  our  fast:  for  we  are 
in  great  distress;  do  not  turn  towards  our  wickedness:  hide  not 
thy  face  from  us:  withhold  not  thyself  from  our  supplications;  be 
near  when  we  beseech  thee;  may  thy  kindness  come  to  comfort  us; 
even  before  we  call  unto  thee,  answer  us;  after  thy  promise, 
wherein  it  is  said  (Isa.  65:  24):  It  shall  come  to  pass  that  before 
they  call.  I  will  answer;  when  yet  they  speak,  I  will  hear.  For  thou 
art  he  that  answers  in  the  time  of  distress,  who  redeems  and 
delivers  at  every  time  of  distress  and  trouble. 

When  the  leader  on  public  fasts  repeats  the  Prayer,  he 
makes  of  the  above  a  separate  benediction,  and  closes, 
"Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  answerest  in  the  time  of  dis- 
tress." It  is  inserted  between  those  above  numbered  IV  and 
V,  and  this  addition  to  the  regular  order  is  no  infringement 
of  the  rule  of  "eighteen"  and  no  more;  for  such  benedic- 
tion is,  at  least  by  its  conclusion,  one  of  the  six  which  were 
in  olden  times  pronounced  on  public  fasts.0 

The  work-clay  Prayer  thus  consists  of  the  first  three  given 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  twelve  or  thirteen  benedic- 
tions above,  and  again  the  last  three  of  that  chapter.  But 
an  opinion  is  expressed  in  the  Mishna  that  "an  abstract  of 
the  eighteen"  is  sufficient.  This  means  the  first  three  and 
last  three  unchanged;  the  abstract  of  the  middle  benedic- 
tions is  thus  reported  in  the  Talmud: 

(i)  Give  us  insight,  O  Lord  our  God,  to  know  thy  ways,  (2)  and 
circumcise  our  hearts  that  we  may  fear  thee;  (3)  and  forgive  us  (4) 
that  we  may  be  redeemed;  (5)  free  us  from  our  ailments,  (6)  and 
nourish  us  from  the  fields  of  thy  earth,  (7)  and  gather  our  scat- 
tered fragments  from  the  four  winds;  (8)  may  the  erring  be  judged 
by  thy  opinion,  (9)  and  swing  thy  hand  over  the  wicked;  (10)  and 
may  the  righteous  be  gladden,  d  (11)  by  the  upbuilding  of  thy 


THE  WORK-DAY  BENEDICTIONS  139 

city,  (12)  by  the  growing  horn  of  thy  servant  David,  and  when  the 
lamp  of  the  son  of  Jesse  thy  anointed  is  set  in  place;  (13)  before 
we  call  thou  wilt  answer  (another  reading  adds:  for  thou  answer- 
est  in  all  time  of  distress).  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  nearest 
prayer. 

Samuel  of  Nehardea  (about  240)  gave  this  composition 
for  what  was  meant  by  "an  abstract  of  the  eighteen,"  and  he 
is  the  author  of  this,  as  he  was  of  other  prayers.  Its  use 
was  discouraged  by  other  Rabbis;  but  few  Prayer  Books 
contain  it,  and  few  Jews  have  ever  seen  it  or  come  across 
it  otherwise  than  in  their  Talmudic  studies.  It  is  remark- 
able that  the  hope  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  is  here 
expressed  more  unequivocally  than  in  Benediction  XII 
when  recited  in  full;  and  the  word  Messiah  is  used  in  the 
abstract,  but  not  in  the  original. 

Another  reading  of  Samuel's  abstract  makes  the  eighth 
petition  read:  "May  the  erring  judge  by  thy  opinion;"  i.  e., 
we  pray  that  the  judges  who  now  give  unjust  judgments 
may  hereafter  give  righteous  ones;  and  for  the  ninth, 
another  reading  has  it:  "Swing  thy  hand  over  wickedness." 
The  abstract  given  in  the  Palestinian  Talmud  differs  from 
Samuel's  in  almost  every  petition,  but  shows  a  common 
origin  by  starting  with  the  same  word.10 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  MIDDLE   BENEDICTION   ON   DAYS   OF  REST 

THE  sixteenth  chapter  of  Exodus  tells  us  that  double 
portions  of  manna  fell  on  Friday,  none  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
thus  teaches  that  on  the  latter  clay  we  should  be  free  from 
care.  The  idea  is  carried  into  the  Prayer  Book ;  on  days  of 
rest  we  do  not  petition  for  our  daily  wants;  the  twelve  (or 
thirteen)  work-day  benedictions  are  left  off,  and  one  known 
as  "Sanctity  of  the  Day"  takes  their  place.  It  differs  ac- 
cording to  the  day,  but  always  closes:  Blessed  be  thou,  O 
Lord,  who  sanctifies  -  — ,  the  name  of  the  day  follows  im- 
mediately or  mediately. 

The  Mishna  speaks  of  "Sanctity  of  the  Day"  as  one  of  the 
benedictions  on  the  Day  of  Memorial;  the  number  seven 
of  the  Sabbath  benedictions  is  treated  in  the  Talmud 
throughout  as  well-known,  and  many  a  well-attested  Ba- 
ra'itha  discusses  this  benediction  as  recited  on  other  Festi- 
vals and  on  the  Sabbath.  The  pure  Hebrew  of  the  more 
essential  parts  also  indicates  an  early  origin.1 

I.  On  the  Sabbath  (not  on  a  Festival)  the  introductory 
part  of  the  "Sanctity  of  the  Day"  has  four  different  forms 
for  the  four  services  of  the  day;  the  constant  part  is  short 
and  almost  literally  the  same  in  the  two  rituals: 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers!  be  pleased  with  our  rest;  sanc- 
tify us  by  thy  commandments,  give  us  a  share  in  thy  law;  fill  us 
from  thy  bounty,  and  gladden  us  [or:  our  hearts]  in  thy  salvation; 
and  cleanse  our  hearts  to  serve  thee  in  truth;  let  us  inherit,  O  Lord 
our  God,  in  love  and  favor,  thy  holy  Sabbath,  and  may  Israel  who 
hallow  [or:  love]  thy  name  rest  thereon:  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord, 
who  sanctifieth  the  Sabbath. 

(140) 


THE  MIDDLE  REXEDICTION  ON  DAYS  OF  J?EST      141 

The  closing  words  are  meant  for  a  literal  compliance 
with  the  injunction,  "Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  hallow 
it,"  especially  when  spoken  in  the  evening,  or  first,  service. 

The  introductions  for  the  four  services  are  undoubtedly 
of  much  later  origin,  that  for  Friday  evening  being  the 
simplest  in  style,  but  hardly  the  oldest: 

Thou  hast  sanctified  the  seventh  day  to  thy  name,  the  conclusion 
of  the  work  of  the  heaven  and  of  the  earth,  and  hast  blessed  it 
beyond  all  days,  and  hallowed  it  beyond  all  seasons;  and  it  is  thus 
written  in  thy  Law  (Gen.  2:  1-3):  And  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
were  finished  and  all  the  hosts  of  them.  And  on  the  seventh  day 
God  finished  his  work  which  he  had  made;  and  he  rested  on  the 
seventh  day  from  all  the  work  which  he  had  made;  and  God  blessed 
the  seventh  day  and  hallowed  it;  for  on  it  he  rested  from  all  his 
work  which  God  created  and  made. 

(The  Sefardim  here  add  the  following  lines,  which  the 
Germans  have  only  in  Musaf:) 

Those  who  keep  the  Sabbath  feel  glad  in  thy  kingdom,  and  those 
who  call  it  a  delight;  the  people  who  hallow  the  seventh  day,  *all 
of  them  will  be  filled  and  delighted  with  thy  goodness;  yea,  with 
the  seventh  day  thou  hast  been  pleased,  and  hast  hallowed  it,  and 
called  it  the  most  precious  of  days. 

A  wholly  different  introduction  is  found  in  the  oldest 
sources. 

In  the  morning  service  the  introduction  reads  thus: 

Moses  is  glad  in  the  gift  of  his  lot;  for  thou  didst  call  him  a 
faithful  servant;  thou  didst  put  a  crown  of  glory  on  his  head,  when 
he  stood  before  thee  on  Mount  Sinai;  he  brought  down  the  two 
tables  of  stone  on  which  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  written, 
and  thus  it  was  written  in  thy  Law:  "Israel  shall  keep  the  Sab- 
bath, to  make  the  Sabbath  an  everlasting  covenant  for  their  genera- 
tions. Between  me  and  the  children  of  Israel  it  is  an  everlasting 
sign,  that  the  Lord  made  in  six  days  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
and  that  on  the  seventh  day  he  rested  and  was  refreshed." 

And  thou  didst  not  give  it,  O  Lord  our  God.  to  the  nations  of 
the  lands,  nor  make  it  an  inheritance  for  the  worshippers  of  idols, 


142        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

nor  do  the  uncircumcised  dwell  in  its  quiet;  but  thou  hast  granted 
it  lovingly  to  thy  people  Israel,  the  seed  of  Jacob,  the  well-beloved; 
*all  of  them  will  be  filled,  etc.  (as  above),  in  memory  of  the  work 
of  Creation. 

This  piece  rests  on  an  Aggadta,  according  to  which  the 
revelation  on  Sinai  took  place  on  a  Sabbath  morning,  but  it 
is  probably  the  oldest  extant  written  form  of  that  Aggadta. 

Leaving  for  another  chapter  the  introductory  part  of 
the  benediction  in  Musaf,  we  come  to  that  in  the  afternoon 
service,  which  has  also  a  Haggadistic  tinge,  as  it  ascribes 
to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath : 

Thou  art  one,  and  thy  name  is  one;  and  what  one  nation  is  there 
like  thy  people  Israel?  Thou  hast  given  to  thy  people  beauty  and 
greatness,  and  the  crown  of  salvation;  a  day  of  rest  and  holiness. 
Abraham  would  rejoice,  Isaac  would  sing,  Jacob  and  his  sons  rest 
on  the  same;  a  rest  of  love  and  free  will,  a  rest  of  trust  and  faith,  a 
rest  of  peace  and  calmness  and  confidence,  a  perfect  rest  with  which 
thou  art  pleased.  May  thy  sons  learn  and  know,  that  their  rest 
comes  from  thee,  and  may  they  for  their  rest  hallow  thy  name.* 

Then  each  of  the  services  is  continued:  "Our  God  and 
God,"  as  first  shown. 

The  "abstract  of  seven,"  which  the  leader  chants  on  Fri- 
day evening,  and  its  object,  to  lengthen  the  service  of  that 
evening  sufficiently  for  early  and  late  comers  to  meet  at 
the  Synagogue,  have  been  mentioned  in  Chapter  I.  Another 
motive  probably  was  to  have  the  remembrance  and  hallow- 
ing of  the  Sabbath  sounded  forth  in  loud  tones  and  not 
confined  to  a  whispered  Prayer. 

This  "abstract  of  seven"  gives  the  middle  benediction 
more  than  in  full  and  a  good  part  of  the  first,  very  little  of 
the  others.  After  reciting  the  first  three  verses  of  Genesis 
2,  the  leader  chants: 

(i)  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  and  God  of  our  fathers, 
God  of  Abraham,  God  of  Isaac,  and  God  of  Jacob,  the  great  and 


THE  MIDDLE  BENEDICTION  ON  DAYS  OF  REST     143 

mighty  and  fearful  God,  God  Most  High,  owner  of  heaven  and 
earth.  Shield  of  the  fathers  by  his  word,  (2)  who  reviveth  the 
dead  by  his  command,  (3)  the  holy  God,  like  whom  there  is  no 
other,  (4)  who  giveth  rest  to  his  people  on  his  holy  Sabbath; 
(5)  before  him  we  shall  worship  in  fear  and  awe,  (6)  and  we 
shall  give  thanks  to  his  name  every  day  unceasingly,  to  the  foun- 
tain of  blessings,  the  God  of  thanksgivings,  (7)  the  Lord  of 
peace  (4)  who  sanctifieth  the  Sabbath,  and  blesseth  the  seventh  day, 
and  giveth  a  rest  in  holiness  to  a  people  sated  with  delight,  a 
remembrance  of  the  work  of  creation.3 

Then  follows  the  constant  part  of  the  middle  benediction, 
so  that  the  leader  pronounces  at  the  end,  "Who  sanctifiest 
the  Sabbath." 

It  has  been  suspected  that  the  words  above  rendered, 
"fountain  of  blessings,"  mean  really  "abstract  of  benedic- 
tions," and  are  the  title  of  the  composition,  which  has  got- 
ten into  its  text  by  the  blunder  of  some  copyist.  But  this 
could  hardly  have  happened. 

II.  On  Festivals  (including  those  occurring  on  the  Sab- 
bath) the  "Sanctity  of  the  Day"  is  made  up  of  several  para- 
graphs, the  first  of  which  is  constant  and  reads  thus : 

Thou  hast  chosen  us  from  all  the  nations,  hast  loved  us,  and  wast 
pleased  with  us;  thou  hast  lifted  us  above  all  tongues,  and  hast 
hallowed  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  hast  brought  us,  O  our 
King,  to  thy  service,  and  hast  pronounced  upon  us  thy  great  and 
holy  name. 

The  next  paragraph  contains  the  name  and  purpose  of 
the  special  Feast,  and,  if  spoken  on  the  Sabbath,  the  name 
and  purpose  of  the  latter  before  that  of  the  Feast.  For  the 
Passover  days  it  reads  thus: 

And  thou  hast  given  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  lovingly  (Sabbaths 
for  rest)  set  times  and  seasons  for  joy,  (this  Sabbath  day,  a  day  of 
our  rest,  and)  this  day  of  the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread  [Sefardim 
say  here:  this  Holiday],  the  season  of  our  enfranchisement,  a  holy 
convocation,  a  memorial  of  the  going  forth  from  Egypt. 

This  is  modified  on  other  Festivals  thus: 


144       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

This  day  of  the  Feast  of  Weeks, — the  day  when  our  Law  was 
given. 

This  day  of  the  Feast  of  Booths, — the  day  of  our  gladness. 

This  Eighth  Day,  the  rest  day  of  the  Feast — the  day  of  our 
gladness. 

The  Day  of  Memorial  not  being  one  of  a  class  of  days, 
the  paragraph  takes  on  it  this  simpler  form: 

And  thou  hast  given  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  lovingly  (this  Sabbath 
for  rest  and)  this  Day  of  Memorial,  a  day  of  alarm  sound,  a  holy 
convocation,  a  memorial  of  the  going  forth  from  Egypt. 

And  so  on  the  Day  of  Atonement: 

And  thou  hast  given  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  lovingly  (this  Sabbath 
for  rest  and)  this  Day  of  Atonement  for  forgiveness  and  atonement, 
and  to  pardon  thereon  all  our  iniquities,  a  holy  convocation,  a 
memorial  of  the  going  forth  from  Egypt. 

The  next  paragraph  is  the  same  which  on  New  Moons 
and  Middle  Days  is  inserted  in  the  Aboda,  the  name  of  the 
Festival  alone  being  inserted  in  the  proper  place,  not  its 
purpose;  nor  is  the  Sabbath  referred  to  in  it.  It  belongs 
to  all  the  services  except  the  "Additional." 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers!  May  the  remembrance  of  our- 
selves and  of  our  fathers,  and  of  thy  anointed  servant  the  son  of 
David,  and  of  thy  holy  city  Jerusalem,  and  of  all  Israel  thy  people. 
arise  and  come,  be  seen  and  heard  before  thee,  on  this  day  (of  the 
Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread),  (of  the  Feast  of  Weeks),  (of  Memo- 
rial), (of  Atonement),  (of  Booths),  (the  Eighth,  the  rest  day  of 
the  Feast)  unto  deliverance,  happiness,  life,  and  peace;  remember- 
us  thereon,  O  Lord  our  God,  for  happiness,  visit  us  for  blessings; 
save  us  unto  life,  and  with  words  of  help  and  mercy,  spare  and  favor 
us,  show  us  mercy!  save  us!  for  to  thee  our  eyes  are  turned;  thou 
art  the  gracious  and  merciful  God  and  King. 

The  final  part  of  the  benediction  for  the  three  Festivals 
of  joy  contains  an  introductory  petition  as  compared  with 
that  for  the  Sabbath,*  which  was  formerly  inserted  also  on 
the  two  solemn  Festivals,  as  follows: 


MIDDLE  BENEDICTION  ON  DA  YS  OF  REST     145 

*Let  us  receive,  O  Lord  our  God,  the  blessing  of  thy  appointed 
times,  for  life  and  peace,  for  gladness  and  joy,  as  thou  hast  in  thy 
favor  promised  to  bless  us;*  (on  Sabbaths:  Our  God  and  God  of  our 
fathers,  be  pleased  with  our  rest) ;  hallow  us  by  thy  command- 
ments, and  give  us  a  share  in  thy  law;  fill  us  from  thy  bounty,  and 
gladden  us  in  thy  salvation;  and  cleanse  our  hearts  to  serve  thee 
in  truth;  let  us  inherit,  O  Lord  our  God  (in  love  and  favor),  in 
gladness  and  in  joy,  (the  Sabbath  and)  thy  holy  times;  and  may 
Israel,  who  hallow  [or:  love]  thy  name,  rejoice  thereon;  blessed 
be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  sanctifieth  (the  Sabbath  and)  Israel  and  the 
seasons.4 

It  will  be  noticed  that  while  the  Sabbath  is  "sanctified" 
before  .and  independently  of  Israel,  being  older  than  the 
chosen  people,  the  Festivals,  called  here  the  "seasons"  or 
times,  are  named  only  after  Israel,  for  whose  benefit  they 
were  instituted. 

On  the'  Day  of  Memorial  a  petition  for  the  coming  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  now  inserted  in  the  close  of  this 
benediction  in  all  the  services.  It  seems  that  at  first  the 
Kingdom  was  prayed  for  only  in  the  "Additional  Service." 
Now,  however,  and  probably  for  a  thousand  years,  the  last 
part  of  the  benediction  for  all  the  four  services  runs  thus: 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers!  reign  over  all  the  world  in  thy 
glory;  arise  over  all  the  earth  in  thy  majesty;  and  shine  in  thy 
triumphant  power  over  all  the  dwellers  of  thy  inhabited  earth! 
May  every  one  that  is  made  know  that  thou  hast  made  him,  and 
every  creature  understand  that  thou  hast  shaped  it;  may  every 
one  who  hath  breath  in  his  nostrils  say:  The  Lord,  the  God  of 
Israel,  is  King,  and  his  Kingdom  ruleth  over  all.*  Sanctify  us 
with  thy  commandments,  and  give  us  a  share  in  thy  law;  fill  us  from 
thy  bounty  and  gladden  us  in  thy  salvation,**  and  cleanse  our 
hearts  to  serve  thee  in  truth;  for  thou  art  God  in  truth,  and  thy 
word  is  true  and  standeth  forever.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  King 
over  all  the  earth,  who  sanctifieth  (the  Sabbath  and)  Israel  and  the 
Day  of  Memorial.5 

At  *  the  Germans  insert  on  the  Sabbath,  "Our  God  and 
God  of  our  fathers,  be  pleased  with  our  rest;"  at  **,  "and 

10 


146       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

let  us  inherit,  O  Lord  our  God,  in  love  and  in  favor,  thy 
holy  Sabbaths,  and  may  Israel,  who  hallow  thy  name,  rest 
thereon."  So  also  at  the  corresponding  places  on  the  Day 
of  Atonement,  when  the  benediction  reads  thus: 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers!  pardon  our  iniquities 
on  this  (Sabbath  and)  Day  of  Atonement;  blot  out  and  re- 
move our  transgressions  and  sins  from  before  thine  eyes;  as  it 
is  written  (Isa.  43: -25):  I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy 
transgressions  for  my  own  sake,  and  I  will  not  remember  thy  sins; 
and  it  is  said  (Isa.  44:  22):  I  have  blotted  out  thy  transgressions 
like  a  dark  cloud,  and  as  a  vapor,  thy  sins;  return  to  me,  for  I 
have  redeemed  thee;  and  it  is  said  (Lev.  16:  30):  For  on  that  day 
he  will  atone  for  you  to  cleanse  you  from  all  your  sins;  before  the 
Lord  you  shall  be  clean.*  Sanctify  us  with  thy  commandments, 
and  give  us  a  share  in  thy  law;  fill  us  from  thy  bounty  and  gladden 
us  in  thy  salvation;**  and  cleanse  our  hearts  to  serve  thee  in  truth 
[for  thou  art  forgiving  to  Israel,  and  holdest  out  pardon  to  the 
tribes  of  Jeshurun  in  every  age;  and  we  have  no  King,  Forgiver 
or  Pardoner  beside  thee].  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  King  who 
pardoneth  and  forgiveth  our  iniquities  and  those  of  all  Israel,  and 
removeth  our  guilt  from  year  to  year,  King  over  all  the  earth,  who 
sanctifieth  (the  Sabbath  and)  Israel  and  the  Day  of  Atonement. 

The  clause  in  brackets  is  not  in  the  older  sources;  its  first 
part  was  chosen  to  lead  up  to  the  close  of  the  benediction; 
the  latter  part  sounds  like  a  protest  against  Christianity. 
The  conclusion  is  much  longer  than  any  other  and  for  that 
reason  suspicious;  but  the  Mishna  speaks  of  a  benediction 
about  the  "pardoning  of  iniquity"  which  the  High  Priest 
pronounced  in  the  Temple,  and  this  is  explained  in  the 
Talmud  to  be  the  one  then  in  use  as  the  "Sanctity  of  the 
Day;"  hence  it  is  probable  that  both  subjects  were  named 
in  the  conclusion.6  The  Sefardim  would  formerly  insert, 
"Let  us  receive,"  from  the  benediction  of  the  three 
Festivals  in  that  of  the  Day  of  Memorial,  and  the  prayer 
for  the  Kingdom  from  this  in  the  benediction  for  the  Day 
of  Atonement;  but  under  the  authority  of  R.  Joseph  Karo's 
Code,  their  Prayer  Books  now  agree  with  those  of  the 


THE  MIDDLE  BENEDICTION  ON  DA  YS  OF  REST      147 

Germans  in  the  former  matter,  while  they  still  retain  the 
prayer  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  Atonement  Day. 

One  piece  may  be  inserted  in  the  "Sanctity  of  the  Day," 
viz.,  when  a  Festival  (which  never  happens  with  the  Day  of 
Atonement)  is  on  a  Sunday;  there  is  a  Separation  (Habdald) 
in  the  Saturday  night  service,  just  as  in  the  work-day 
Prayer;  for  the  Festival  is  of  lower  sanctity  than  the  Sab- 
bath. It  is  made  to  follow  the  second  paragraph,  in  which 
the  Festival  is  named,  and  it  reads  thus  (some  redundancies 
being  clipped) : 

Thou  hast  made  us  know,  O  Lord  our  God,  thy  righteous  judg- 
ments, and  taught  us  to  act  by  the  decrees  of  thy  will  [hast  given 
us  just  rules,  true  laws,  good  statutes,  and  commandments] ;  hast 
made  us  heirs  to  seasons  of  joy,  sacred  set  times  and  generous 
feasts,  possessors  of  the  holiness  of  the  Sabbath  and  of  the  glory 
of  the  Festival.  Thou  hast  divided  between  holy  and  profane,  light 
and  darkness,  Israel  and  the  nations,  the  seventh  day  and  the  six 
work-days;  also  between  the  holiness  of  the  Sabbath  and  that  of 
the  Feast,  and  hast  sanctified  the  seventh  day  from  all  days,  and 
distinguished  and  hallowed  thy  people  Israel  through  thy  holiness. 

The  bracketed  sentence  is  not  in  the  form  which  the  Tal- 
mud gives  for  the  occasion.7 

So  much  for  the  benediction  in  all  its  present  forms. 
As  to  its  antiquity,  it  appears  that  the  schools  of  Hillel 
and  Shammai  already  discussed  (perhaps  in  King  Herod's 
days)  as  to  how  it  should  be  framed  on  a  day  both  Sabbath 
and  Festival.  Shammai's  school  proposed  to  have  two 
separate  benedictions;  that  of  Hillel,  which,  as  usual,  pre- 
vailed, to  have  one  benediction,  begin  therein  with  the 
Sabbath  (as  we  do  now,  for  the  first  paragraph  refers  to 
neither),  then  speak  of  the  Festival  in  the  middle,  and  close 
with  the  Sabbath  alone.  But  R.  Judah  the  Patriarch  car- 
ried the  Festival  also  into  the  conclusion,  which  on  the  Day 
of  Atonement  must  have  always  been  done.8 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  "ADDITIONAL,"  OR  MUSAF 

THE  "Additional"  follows  the  morning  service  on  the  days 
for  which  the  Law  (Num.  28  and  29)  prescribes  the  offer- 
ings in  addition  to  the  continual,  or  daily,  i.  e.,  on  Sabbath, 
New  Moons,  the  three  Festivals,  and  the  Days  of  Memorial 
and  Atonement.  The  first  three  and  the  last  three  bene- 
dictions were  always  parts  of  it.  On  the  Day  of  Memorial 
there  are  three  middle  benedictions,  on  other  days  only  one, 
a  modified  "Sanctity  of  the  Day."  Its  last  part  (except  on 
New  Moons)  is  the  same  as  in  the  other  services,  but  there 
is  an  introductory  part,  setting  forth  that  we  ought  to  bring 
certain  offerings  on  the  clay,  and  a  petition  that  we  may 
again  be  enabled  to  do  so. 

The  "Additional"  was  instituted  to  stand  in  place  of  the 
additional  offerings,  just  as  the  morning  and  afternoon 
Prayer  stood  in  place  of  the  morning  and  the  evening  lamb, 
before  sacrifices  had  come  to  an  end,  as  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  people  could  not  witness  the  offerings  in 
the  Temple  Court.  The  daily  lamb  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
morning  or  afternoon  Prayer,  hence  the  additional  sacri- 
fices were  probably  not  mentioned  in  the  "Additional"  as 
first  drawn  up. 

It  is  within  reason  that  on  a  clay  which  the  law  of  sacri- 
fice denotes  as  especially  holy  a  man  should  pray  more  or 
oftener  than  on  other  days;  but  not  that  he  should  in  his 
devotion  refer  to  that  law.  As  far  as  the  allusions  of  the 
Mishna  go  at  the  date  of  its  conclusion,  the  "Prayer  of  the 
Additionals"  may  have  been  only  a  repetition  of  the  morn- 
ing Prayer,  though  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  there 

(148) 


THE  "ADDITIONAL,"  OR  MUSAF  149 

had  been  ground  to  pray  for  a  restoration  of  the  day's  offer- 
ings.1 

Let  us  begin  with  the  middle  benediction  of  the  Musaf 
for  a  plain  Sabbath,  as  distinguished  from  Sabbath  and 
New  Moon  or  Sabbath  and  a  Festival.  The  Sefardic  form 
is  given  first  as  the  simpler  of  the  two: 

Thou  hast  delivered  to  Moses  upon  Mount  Sinai  the  command- 
ment of  the  Sabbath:  Remember!  observe!*  and  thou  hast  com- 
manded us,  O  Lord  our  God,  to  offer  thereon  additional  offering 
according  to  rule.  May  it  be  thy  will,  O  Lord  our  God  and  God  of 
our  fathers,  to  bring  us  in  gladness  to  our  land,  and  to  plant  us  in 
our  borders;  there  we  shall  perform  before  thee  the  offerings  as  in 
duty  bound,  the  daily  and  additional  after  their  order  and  rule. 
Even  the  additional  of  this  day  of  rest,  we  shall  prepare  and  offer 
before  thee  lovingly,  according  to  the  command  of  thy  will,  as  thou 
hast  written  it  for  us  in  thy  Law,  through  Moses  thy  servant,  in 
these  words  (Num.  28:  9,  10):  "And  on  the  Sabbath  day  two 
yearling  lambs  without  blemish,  and  two  tenth  parts  of  fine  flour 
for  a  meal-offering,  stirred  in  oil,  and  its  drink-offering.  The 
burnt-offering  of  the  Sabbath  for  the  Sabbath,  beside  the  daily 
burnt-offering  and  its  drink-offering." 

May  those  who  keep  the  Sabbath  be  glad  in  thy  Kingdom,  those 
who  call  it  a  delight,  the  people  who  sanctify  the  seventh  day,  may 
they  all  be  filled  and  delighted  from  thy  bounty;  thou  wast  pleased 
with  the  seventh  day,  and  didst  hallow  it,  and  call  it  the  most 
precious  of  days  [Germans  add:  a  memorial  of  the  days  of  Crea- 
tion]. 

In  place  of  the  first  part  to  (*)  the  German  ritual  (sup- 
ported herein  by  the  authority  of  R.  Amram  and  of  R. 
Saadia,  which  the  Sefardim  generally  follow  but  here 
reject)2  has  a  labored  composition  of  which  the  first  twenty- 
two  words  run  in  the  inverted  order  of  the  alphabet.  What 
follows  after  (*)  differs  only  in  grammatic  forms,  which  do 
not  show  in  English;  the  rest  is  unchanged: 

Thou  hast  built  up  the  Sabbath,  wast  pleased  with  its  offerings, 
didst  command  its  details,  with  the  order  of  its  drink  offering; 
those  delighted  by  it  will  forever  inherit  glory;  those  who  taste  it 


I50       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

deserve  the  life;  even  those  who  love  to  speak  thereof  have  chosen 
greatness.     Then  they  were  commanded  concerning  it  from  Sinai.3 

This  request  for  the  renewal  of  the  sacrificial  service  is 
fuller  in  the  Musaf  of  the  Festivals  and  more  objectionable 
to  modern  thought,  because  on  those  days  it  starts  with  the 
assertion  that  the  dispersion  of  Israel  and  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple  were  caused  by  "our  sins"  or  the  sins  of  our 
fathers  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  was  not  brought 
about  by  a  wise  Providence  to  substitute  the  more  spiritual 
worship  of  the  Synagogue  for  that  of  the  altar.  The 
formula  is  known  by  its  opening  words  (U-mippene  hataenu), 
and  is  one  of  the  first  banished,  wherever  men  deal  boldly 
with  the  liturgy: 

On  account  of  our  sins  we  have  been  exiled  from  our  country, 
and  removed  from  our  soil,  and  we  can  no  longer  (add  on  the 
three  joyous  Feasts:  go  up  and  appear  and)  worship  and  per- 
form our  duty  before  thee  in  the  House  of  thy  choice,  in  the  great 
and  holy  house,  on  which  thy  Name  was  pronounced;  by  reason  of 
the  hand  that  was  stretched  forth  against  thy  sanctuary.  Be  it  thy 
will,  O  Lord,  our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  merciful  King, 
again  to  show  mercy  to  us  and  to  thy  sanctuary,  to  build  it  soon 
and  to  heighten  its  glory.  Our  Father,  our  King,  reveal  speedily 
to  us  the  glory  of  thy  Kingdom,  and  shine  forth  and  rise  over  us 
in  the  sight  of  every  living  creature;  bring  home  our  scattered 
remnant  from  out  of  the  nations,  and  assemble  our  broken  parts 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth;  and  bring  us  to  thy  city  Zion  in  song, 
and  to  thy  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem  with  everlasting  joy;  and  there 
we  shall  prepare  and  offer  before  thee,  as  in  duty  bound,  our  sacri- 
fices, the  daily  and  the  additional,  according  to  their  order  and 
their  rules;  and  the  additional  sacrifices  of  this  (Sabbath  and  of 
this)  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread  (or  of  Weeks,  or  Day  of  Memo- 
rial, etc.),  we  shall  prepare  and  offer  before  thee  as  thou  hast 
written  it  for  us  in  thy  law,  by  the  hands  of  thy  servant  Moses, 
from  the  mouth  of  thy  glory,  as  it  is  spoken: 

Here  the  Sefardim  stop,  not  quoting  the  verses  from 
Numbers  28  and  29,  in  which  the  sacrifices  for  each  day 
are  set  forth,  because  they  have  already  been  read  in  the 


THE  "ADDITIONAL,"   OR  MUSAP  151 

Pentateuch  lessons.4  On  the  Sabbath  they  proceed  as  above 
with  Numbers  28:  9,  10. 

The  Germans  quote  on  every  Festival  the  verses  for  the 
day,  abridging  in  general  words  the  rules  for  meal  and  drink 
offerings.  On  Saturday  all  add,  as  on  a  plain  Sabbath, 
"May  those  who  keep,"  as  above. 

This  ends  for  the  Days  of  Memorial  and  of  Atonement 
all  reference  to  the  Temple  service,  but  on  the  three  Festi- 
vals, on  which  every  male  Israelite  was  bidden  to  "go  up  and 
appear"  at  the  spot  which  God  would  choose,  this  further 
petition  is  put  up: 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  merciful  King,  show  us  mercy; 
thou,  the  good  and  benignant,  allow  us  to  seek  thee!  Return  to 
us  in  thy  manifold  mercies  for  the  sake  of  our  fathers,  who  per- 
formed thy  will.  Build  thy  house  as  at  the  first;  set  up  thy  sanc- 
tuary on  its  foundation.  Let  us  live  to  see  when  it  is  built;  gladden 
us  in  its  restoration.  Restore  the  priests  to  their  service,  the 
Levites  to  their  song  and  their  music,  Israel  to  their  dwellings; 
and  there  we  shall  go  up  and  appear  and  worship  before  thee  at 
the  three  appointed  times,  as  it  is  written  in  thy  Law  (Deut.  16: 
16,  17) :  Three  times  in  the  year  shall  all  thy  males  appear  before 
the  Lord,  thy*  God,  in  the  place  which  the  Lord  shall  choose;  in 
the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread  and  in  the  Feast  of  Weeks  and  in 
the  Feast  of  Booths;  and  they  shall  not  appear  before  the  Lord 
empty.  Every  man  shall  give  as  he  is  able  according  to  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord,  thy  God,  which  he  has  given  thee.5 

The  last  and  oldest  part  of  the  benediction  follows  in  each 
case,  that  is,  "Our  God,  etc.,  be  pleased  with  our  rest," 
on  the  Sabbath;  "Let  us  receive,"  on  the  three  Festi- 
vals, and  so  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  in  the  silent  Prayer; 
we  shall  see  what  intervenes  on  the  Day  of  Memorial.  On 
all  days  the  matter  of  the  sacrifices  takes  the  place  of,  "May 
the  remembrance,"  in  the  evening,  morning,  and  after- 
noon service. 

The  Musaf  for  the  "Middle  Days"  is  the  same  as  for  the 
feasts  proper,  and  is  read  even  on  the  Sabbath. 

We  come  now  to  the  "Additional"  for  the  New  Moon. 


152       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Here  we  have  no  "Sanctity  of  the  Day"  in  the  morning 
Prayer  as  a  basis,  for  that  is  the  work-day  Amida;  the  bene- 
diction is  built  up  for  this  service  alone.  It  consists  of  an 
introductory  part  of  later  growth,  with  its  regrets  for  the 
departed  sacrifices,  and  an  older  part,  in  which  we  pray  for 
a  blessed  month  on  its  first  day: 

Thou  hast  given  New  Moons  to  thy  people,  as  a  time  of  forgive- 
ness in  all  those  ages,  when  they  brought  before  thee  acceptable 
sacrifice  and  goats  for  sin-offering  to  atone  for  them;  may  these 
be  a  memorial  for  them,  and  a  saving  to  their  souls  from  the  adver- 
sary. Do  thou  set  up  a  new  altar  at  Zion;  may  we  offer  thereon 
the  burnt-offering  for  the  new  moon,  and  prepare  acceptable  he- 
goats,  and  feel  joy  in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  in  the  songs  of 
David  that  resound  in  thy  city,  that  are  sung  before  thy  altar;  thou 
wilt  bring  home  to  the  sons  everlasting  love,  and  remember  to 
them  the  covenant  of  the  fathers.  O  bring  us  to  Zion,  thy  city,  in 
song,  and  to  thy  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem  in  everlasting  happiness; 
there  we  shall  offer  to  thee,  as  in  duty  bound,  our  sacrifices,  daily 
and  additional,  according  to  order  and  rule.  Even  the  additional 
for  this  day  of  New  Moon  we  shall  lovingly  offer  before  thee, 
according  to  the  commandment  of  thy  will,  as  thou  hast  written  it 
for  us  in  thy  Law,  by  the  hands  of  Moses,  thy  servant,  from  the 
mouth  of  thy  glory,  as  it  is  spoken  (quoting  Num.  28:  n). 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers;  renew  for  us  this  month,  for 
happiness  and  blessing,*  for  joy  and  gladness,*  for  salvation  and 
comfort,*  for  provision  and  sustenance,*  for  life  and  peace,*  for 
pardon  of  sin  and  forgiveness  of  iniquity.*  For  thou  hast  chosen 
thy  people  Israel  from  all  the  nations,  and  hast  fixed  for  them  the 
ordinances  of  the  new  moon.  Blessed  be  Thou,  O  Lord,  who 
hallowest  Israel  and  the  New  Moons. 

When  the  leader  repeats  the  benediction  those  present 
answer  Amen  after  "happiness  and  blessing,"*  and  so  at 
each  *. 

The  introductory  part  is  very  slightly  changed  in  the 
Sefardic  ritual;  but  in  praying  for  a  happy  month  the  fur- 
ther request  is  inserted,  "May  this  month  be  the  last  of  all 
our  troubles,  a  beginning  of  our  redemption."0 

Lastly,  the  Alusaf  for  "Sabbath  and  New  Moon"  must  be 


THE  "ADDITIONAL,"   OR  MUSAF  153 

considered.  Here  the  two  rituals  differ  broadly  in  a  ma- 
terial point.  That  of  the  Germans  wholly  suppresses  those 
short  requests  which  are  common  to  every  "Sanctity  of 
the  Day,"  while  that  of  the  Sefardim,  after  asking  that  "on 
this  Sabbath"  the  month  be  renewed  for  happiness, 
winds  up  the  benediction  as  on  other  Sabbaths,  only  naming 
Israel  and  the  New  Moon  in  the  very  conclusion. 
The  whole  benediction  in  the  German  Minhag  runs  thus: 

Thou  hast  formed  thy  world  of  old,  and  finished  thy  work  on 
the  seventh  day;*  thou  hast  loved  us,  and  wast  pleased  with  us; 
thou  hast  lifted  us  above  all  tongues,  and  hast  hallowed  us  by  thy 
commandments,  and  hast  brought  us,  O  our  King,  to  thy  service, 
and  hast  pronounced  on  us  thy  great  and  holy  name;  and  hast 
given  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  Sabbaths  for  rest.  New  Moons  for 
atonement,  and  because  we  and  our  fathers  sinned  against  thee,  our 
city  is  in  ruins,  and  our  sanctuary  has  been  laid  waste,  our  glory 
has  fled,  and  our  abode  of  life  is  dishonored;  and  we  cannot  per- 
form our  duties  in  thy  chosen  house,  in  the  great  and  holy  house 
over  which  thy  name  was  pronounced,  on  account  of  the  violence 
done  to  thy  sanctuary.  Be  it  thy  will,  O  Lord  our  God  and  God  of 
our  fathers,*  to  bring  us  in  gladness  to  our  land,  and  to  plant  us 
in  our  borders;  and  there  we  shall  (here  they  proceed  as  on  Sab- 
bath and  Festival,  including  the  verses  on  sacrifice  from  Numbers 
28;  then:  "May  those  who  keep,"  as  on  other  Sabbaths;  then 
comes  this  conclusion) : 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  be  pleased  with  our  rest,  and 
renew  for  us  on  this  Sabbath  day  the  coming  month  for  happiness 
and  blessing,  for  joy  and  gladness,  for  salvation  and  comfort,  for 
provision  and  sustenance,  for  life  and  peace,  for  pardon  of  sin  and 
forgiveness  of  iniquity;  for  thou  hast  chosen  thy  people  Israel 
from  all  the  nations,  and  hast  made  known  to  them  thy  holy  Sab- 
bath, and  fixed  for  them  the  ordinances  of  the  new  moon.  Blessed 
be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  hallowest  the  Sabbath  and  Israel  and  the 
New  Moons. 

The  above  reads  in  parts  very  much  like  the  correspond- 
ing formula  for  the  Festivals. 

The  Sefardim,  after  praying  for  a  restoration  of  the  Tem- 
ple and  sacrifice,  ask  for  a  happy  month  in  the  same  words 
as  on  work-days,  stopping  short  at  the  close  or  sealing  of 


154       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

the  benediction;  then  say,  "May  those  who  keep,"  and 
the  ordinary  last  paragraph  of  the  Sabbath  benediction, 
but  conclude  like  the  Germans,  "who  hallowest  the  Sab- 
bath and  Israel  and  the  New  Moons."7 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  DAY  OF  MEMORIAL 

As  THE  Shema  with  its  benedictions  is  the  same  for  all 
the  days  of  the  year,  and  as  the  constant  parts  of  the 
Amida  with  their  modifications  and  the  "Sanctity  of  the 
Day"  for  each  of  the  Festivals,  among  them  the  Day  of 
Memorial,  have  been  set  forth  in  former  chapters,  little 
would  remain  to  be  said  of  the  services  for  that  solemn  day 
but  for  the  peculiar  construction  which  has  been  given  to 
its  "Additional  Prayer"  in  connection  with  the  blowing 
of  the  alarm-sounds,  by  which  this  day  is  distinguished. 

The  Mishna,  on  behalf  of  one  of  the  lesser  Sages,  states 
the  order  of  benedictions  thus:  i.  Fathers.  2.  Powers. 
3.  Holiness  of  the  Name,  and  he  (the  leader)  embraces 
Kingdoms,  4.  Sanctity  of  the  Day,  and  he  blows  (the 
Shofar).  5.  Remembrances,  and  he  blows.  6.  Shofaroth 
(Ram's-horns),  and  he  blows.  7.  Service.  8.  Thanks- 
giving. 9.  Blessing  of  the  Priests.  R.  Akiba  corrects  this, 
because  Kingdoms  and  blowing  must  go  together,  and 
the  order  stands,  aside  from  i,  2,  7,  8,  9,  thus:  3.  Holiness 
of  the  Name.  4.  Sanctity  of  the  Day  and  Kingdoms,  and 
he  blows.  5.  Remembrances,  and  he  blows.  6.  Shofaroth, 
and  he  blows.1 

By  Kingdoms  are  meant  verses  or  passages  from  Scrip- 
ture in  which  God  is  recognized  as  King.  Remembrances 
are  similar  verses  in  which  God  is  shown  to  be  mindful  of 
mankind  and  especially  of  Israel.  Shofaroth  are  verses  in 
which  the  Shofar  is  named  either  literally  as  an  instrument 
used  in  worship,  or  figuratively,  when  thunder  mimics  its 

(155) 


156       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

notes,  or  when  God  himself  sounds  it  as  a  call  to  Israel  or 
to  mankind. 

The  opinion  that  the  Kingdoms  should  be  embraced 
in  the  "Holiness  of  the  Name"  may  have  left  a  trace  in  the 
insertion  therein  of  "Now  set  thy  terror"  (for  which  see 
Chapter  VII)  in  all  the  services  of  the  Days  of  Memorial 
and  Atonement.  The  Mishria  lays  down  only  general 
rules  for  the  choice  of  these  verses;  there  should  be  not  less 
than  ten  under  each  head,  it  being  understood  that  they 
should  be  culled  from  Tora,  Prophets,  and  Hagiographa; 
remembrance  for  evil  or  the  cornet  sounding  for  punish- 
ment must  not  be  among  them,  nor  the  remembrance  of  an 
individual,  but  only  that  of  Israel  or  of  the  righteous  or  of 
mankind.  The  Talmud  points  out  that  the  Tora  really  con- 
tains only  three  Kingdom  verses,  those  now  in  use,  to  which 
"Hear,  O  Israel"  may  be  added  as  a  fourth,  and  mentions 
also  some  of  the  other  verses  as  already  in  use.2 

The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  already  prayed  for  in  the 
fourth  benediction  as  it  stands  in  the  morning  Prayer,  and 
it  concludes,  "King  of  all  the  earth."  The  conclusion  of 
the  two  other  benedictions  must  also  have  been  agreed  on 
as  soon  as  these  were  named,  for  the  conclusion* was  never 
left  to  the  whim  of  the  leader.  But  the  choice  of  the  pass- 
ages, the  following  piece  which  introduces  the  Kingdoms, 
and  the  whole  framework  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  benedictions, 
belong  to  Abba  Areka,  known  as  Rab,  and  to  the  first  half 
of  the  third  century:3 

IV.  It  is  for  us  to  praise  the  Master  of  the  Universe,  to  show  the 
greatness  of  him  who  formed  it  in  the  beginning;  that  he  has  not 
made  us  like  the  nations  of  the  land,  nor  put  us  with  the  families 
of  the  earth;  that  he  has  not  set  our  portion  with  theirs,  or  our 
lot  with  all  their  crowd  [of  those  that  bow  down  to  vanity  and 
emptiness  and  pray  to  gods  who  cannot  help — this  has  been  ex- 
punged by  the  censor  from  the  German  ritual] ;  but  we  [kneel 
and)  bow  down  |Sefardim  omit:  and  acknowledge]  before  the 
Supreme  King  of  kings,  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  he;  to  him 


THE  DA  V  OF  MEMORIAL  157 

who  spanneth  the  heavens  and  foundeth  the  earth  (see  Isa.  51:  13); 
the  throne  of  whose  glory  is  in  the  heavens  above,  and  the  resi- 
dence of  whose  might  is  in  the  highest  of  heights.  He  is  our  God, 
none  else;  truly  our  King;  there  is  nothing  beside  him,  as  it  is 
written  in  his  law  (Deut.  4:  39):  "Thou  shalt  know  this  day,  and 
bring  it  home  to  thy  heart,  that  the  Lord  is  the  God,  in  the  heavens 
above,  and  on  the  earth  beneath;  none  else." 

Therefore  we  lift  our  hope  unto  thee,  O  Lord  our  God,  soon  to 
look  upon  the  beauty  of  thy  might,  when  defilements  are  driven 
from  the  earth,  and  the  idols  are  wholly  cut  off;  when  the  world  is 
built  up  in  the  Kingdom  of  the  Almighty,  and  all  the  sons  of  flesh 
call  on  thy  name;  when  all  the  wicked  men  of  the  earth  turn  to 
thee:  let  all  the  dwellers  of  the  globe  learn  and  know,  that  every 
knee  bendeth,  every  tongue  sweareth  to  thee.  Before  thee,  O  Lord 
our  God,  they  shall  kneel  and  fall  down,  and  give  honor  to  thy 
glorious  name;  and  they  shall  all  receive  the  yoke  of  thy  Kingdom, 
and  mayest  thou  speedily  reign  over  them  for  everlasting.  For  the 
Kingdom  is  thine,  and  to  all  eternity  thou  shalt  reign  in  glory. 

Now  come  the  Kingdom  verses,  three  from  the  Penta- 
teuch, three  verses  or  passages  from  Psalms,  three  from 
Prophets,  lastly,  "Hear,  O  Israel,"  which,  though  not  con- 
taining the  word,  is  known  as  the  assumption  of  the 
Kingdom: 

As  it  is  written  in  thy  Law  (Ex.  15:  18):  The  Lord  shall  reign 
forever  and  ever;  and  it  is  said  (Num.  23:  21):  He  has  not  seen 
falsehood  in  Jacob,  nor  has  he  beheld  mischief  in  Israel;  the  Lord 
his  God  is  with  him,  and  the  shouting  (or  alarm-sound)  for  the 
King  in  his  midst.  And  it  is  said  (Deut.  33:  5):  There  was  a  King 
in  Jeshurun;  when  the  heads  of  the  people  were  gathered,  as  one 
the  tribes  of  Israel.  And  in  thy  holy  writings  it  is  written  thus 
(Ps.  22:  29):  For  the  Kingdom  is  of  the  Lord;  and  he  ruleth 
among  the  nations.  And  further  (93:  i):  The  Lord  was  King;  he 
is  clothed  in  majesty,  the  Lord  is  clothed,  he  is  girt  in  strength; 
even  the  world  is  established,  that  it  cannot  be  shaken.  And  further 
(24:  7-10):  Lift  up,  ye  gates,  your  heads,  and  be  raised,  everlasting 
doors,  that  the  King  of  Glory  may  enter.  Who  is  this  King  of 
Glory?  the  Lord,  who  is  strong  and  mighty;  the  Lord,  who  is 
mighty  in  war.  Lift  up,  ye  gates,  your  heads,  and  lift,  ye  everlast- 
ing doors,  that  the  King  of  Glory  may  enter.  Who  is  this  King  of 
Glory?  The  Lord  of  Hosts;  he  is  the  King  of  Glory.  Selah.  And 


158       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

by  the  hands  of  thy  servants,  the  prophets,  it  is  thus  written 
(Isa.  44:  6):  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel  and  his  re- 
deemer, the  Lord  of  Hosts;  I  am  the  First,  and  I  am  the  Last,  and 
beside  me  there  is  no  God.  And  further  (Obad.  21) :  Saviours  shall 
go  up  on  Mount  Zion,  and  they  shall  judge  the  Mount  of  Seir,  and 
the  Kingdom  shall  be  the  Lord's.  And  further  (Zech.  14:  9): 
The  Lord  shall  be  King  over  all  the  earth;  on  that  day  the  Lord 
shall  be  One,  and  his  name  One.  In  thy  Law  it  is  written:  Hear, 
O  Israel,  the  Lord,  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One. 

After  Alcnu  and  the  Kingdom  verses  the  benediction 
proceeds:  "Our  God,  etc.,  be  King  over  us,"  to  "King 
over  all  the  earth,  who  sanctifieth  Israel  and  the  Day  of 
Memorial." 

The  piece  which  introduces  the  "Remembrances"  has 
given  to  the  Festival  almost  a  new  character,  that  of  the 
yearly  day  of  judgment,4  which  the  verses  alone  do  not 
indicate.  The  benediction  of  Remembrances  reads  thus: 

V.  Thou  rememberest  the  eternal  doings,  and  visitest  the 
creatures  of  the  oldest  past;  before  thee  all  secrets  are  laid  bare, 
and  the  multitude  of  hidden  things  since  the  creation.  There  is 
no  forgetfulness  before  the  throne  of  thy  glory,  and  nothing  is 
hidden  before  thy  eyes.  Thou  rememberest  every  deed,  and  no 
creature  can  deny  itself  from  thee.  Everything  is  open  and  seen 
before  thee,  O  Lord  our  God,  who  espies  and  beholds  to  the  end 
of  all  the  ages,  when  thou  bringest  a  rule  and  reminder,  that 
every  spirit  and  soul  be  visited,  that  many  works  be  remembered, 
and  the  multitude  of  hidden  things  till  there  is  no  end.  Thus 
thou  hast  made  it  known  in  the  beginning;  long  since  hast  thou 
revealed  it.  This  day  is  the  commencement  of  thy  works,  a  memo- 
rial of  the  first  day  (Ps.  81 :  5):  For  it  is  an  ordinance  to  Israel,  a 
judgment  with  the  God  of  Jacob. 

And  thereon  it  is  judged  upon  the  countries,  which  is  to  have  war 
and  which  peace;  which  famine  and  which  plenty;  and  the  creatures 
are  visited  thereon,  to  name  them  unto  life  or  unto  death.  Who 
is  not  visited  on  this  day,  when  the  remembrance  of  all  works 
cometh  before  thee:  the  work  of  the  mortal  and  his  visitation,  and 
the  actions  and  steps  of  man;  human  thoughts  and  devices,  and  the 
impulses  of  man's  action?  Happy  is  the  man  who  does  not  forget, 
thee,  and  the  son  of  man  who  findeth  courage  in  thee.  For  those 
who  seek  thee  will  not  stumble,  nor  wilt  thou  allow  those  to  blush 


THE  DA  Y  OF  MEMORIA  L  1 59 

that  trust  in  thee.  For  the  memorial  of  every  creature  comes 
before  thee,  and  thou  searches!  into  the  doings  of  all.  Thou  wast 
even  mindful  of  Noah,  and  didst  visit  him  with  a  merciful  salva- 
tion, when  thou  broughtest  the  waters  of  destruction  over  all  flesh 
for  their  evil  actions;  but  his  memorial  came  before  thee,  to  multi- 
ply his  seed  like  the  dust  of  the  earth,  his  descendants  as  the  sand 
of  the  sea;  as  it  is  written  in  thy  law  (Gen.  8:  i):  And  God  remem- 
bered Noah  and  all  the  beasts  and  all  the  cattle  that  were  with  him 
in  the  ark;  and  God  made  a  wind  to  pass  over  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  the  waters  settled.  And  it  is  said  (Ex.  2:  24):  God 
heard  their  sighs,  and  God  remembered  his  covenant  with  Abra- 
ham, with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob.  And  it  is  said  (Lev.  26:  42): 
Then  I  will  remember  my  covenant  with  Jacob,  even  my  covenant 
with  Isaac,  even  my  covenant  with  Abraham,  I  will  remember; 
and  I  will  remember  the  land  [Sefardim  substitute  for  this  verse, 
Ex.  6:  5].  And  in  thy  holy  writings  it  is  written  thus  (Ps.  in:  4): 
He  made  a  memorial  of  his  wonders;  the  Lord  is  gracious  and 
merciful.  And  further  (HI:  5):  He  giveth  gain  to  those  who  fear 
him;  he  will  forever  remember  his  covenant.  And  further  (106, 
45) :  And  he  remembered  to  them  his  covenant,  and  bethought 
himself  according  to  his  abundant  mercies.  And  by  the  hands  of 
thy  servants,  the  prophets,  it  is  written  (Jer.  2:  2):  Go  and  pro- 
claim in  the  hearing  of  Jerusalem.  Thus  saith  the  Lord:  I  remem- 
ber unto  thee  the  kindness  of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thy  bridal 
state,  when  thou  wentest  after  me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land 
not  sown.  And  further  (Ezek.  16:  60):  I  shall  remember  unto  thee 
my  covenant  with  thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  shall  keep  up 
with  thee  an  everlasting  covenant.  And  further  (Jer.  31:  19):  Is 
not  Ephraim  to  me  a  darling  son  or  a  petted  child?  for  in  measure 
as  I  speak  against  him,  I  remember  and  think  of  him  the  more; 
therefore  my  inwards  are  moved  towards  him;  I  shall  surely  have 
mercy  on  him,  says  the  Lord. 

[The  Sefardim  here  insert  paragraph  3  of  the  morning  benedic- 
tion: May  the  remembrance,  etc.]. 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  remember  us  with  a  kind  remem- 
brance, and  visit  us  with  salvation  and  mercy  from  the  everlasting 
heavens;  remember  unto  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  the  oath  which 
thou  hast  sworn  to  our  father  Abraham  on  Mount  Moriah;  con- 
sider his  binding  his  son  Isaac  upon  the  altar,  suppressing  his 
love  to  do  thy  will  perfectly;  thus  may  thy  love  suppress  thy  anger 
at  us,  and  may.  through  thy  goodness,  the  heat  of  thy  wrath  be 
turned  away  from  thy  people,  thy  city,  and  thy  heritage.  Fulfill 
for  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  the  promise  made  to  us  in  thy  Law, 


160       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

written  by  Moses,  as  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  thy  glory  (Lev.  26: 
45):  I  shall  remember  unto  them  the  covenant  with  the  men  of 
old,  whom  I  brought  forth  from  the  land  of  Egypt  in  the  sight  of 
the  nations,  to  become  their  God;  I  am  the  Lord.  For  thou  re- 
memberest  all  things  forgotten;  and  there  is  no  oblivion  before 
the  throne  of  thy  glory.  Remember  to-day  the  binding  (Akcda)  of 
Isaac  mercifully  to  his  seed.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  re- 
membereth  the  covenant. 

In  Western  Germany  the  leader,  when  he  repeats  this 
benediction,  intersperses  the  verses  with  "poetry,"  and 
substitutes  several  other  "Remembrance"  verses  for  those 
given  above,  and  moreover  gives  those  from  the  three  divi- 
sions of  Holy  Writ  in  a  different  order. 

This  benediction  and  the  burden  of  the  verses  is  justi- 
fied by  the  name  Day  of  Memorial,  which  the  Festival  bears 
throughout  the  Prayer  Book. 

But  under  the  Law  it  is  a  day  of  alarm-sound,  and  this, 
according  to  the  tradition,  must  come  from  the  Shofar  (a 
prepared  rani's  horn),  which  for  convenience  we  may  render 
"cornet."  The  English  Bible  renders  it  in  many  passages 
trumpet,  which  is  wrong,  for  trumpets  of  silver  or  other 
metal  were  well-known  by  another  Hebrew  name.  The 
sound  of  the  Shofar  always  stands  in  the  Bible  for  a  solemn 
message,  either  of  awe  and  terror  or  of  freedom  and  joy. 

The  benediction  Shofaroth  with  its  verses  runs  thus: 

VI.  Thou  wast  revealed  in  a  cloud  of  glory  to  thy  holy  people,  to 
speak  with  them  from  the  heavens;  thou  madest  them  hear  thy 
voice,  appearing  to  them  in  sacred  thunderclouds;  all  the  world 
trembled  before  thee,  and  the  world-old  creatures  shook  in  fear; 
when  thou,  our  King,  wast  revealed  to  us  on  Mount  Sinai,  to 
teach  thy  people  law  and  commandments.  They  heard  thy  majestic 
voice  and  thy  holy  speaking  Irom  fiery  (lames.  Thou  didst  show 
thyself  in  lightning  and  thunder,  and  didst  appear  to  them  in  the 
sound  of  the  cornet.  As  it  is  written  in  thy  Law  (Ex.  19:  16) :  And 
it  was  on  the  third  day  towards  morning;  there  were  thunders  and 
lightnings  and  a  heavy  cloud  on  the  Mount;  and  the  sound  of  the 
cornet  was  very  strong;  and  all  the  people  in  the  camp  trembled. 
And  further  (ib.  ly):  And  the  sound  of  the  cornet  was  waxing 


THE  DAY  OF  MEMORIA L  1 6 1 

exceedingly  strong;  Moses  would  speak,  and  God  answered  him 
in  thunder.  And  further  (Ex.  20:  18) :  And  all  the  people  saw 
the  thunder,  and  the  lightning,  and  the  sound  of  the  cornet,  and  the 
Mount  smoking;  and  the  people  saw  it  and  moved,  and  stood 
afar  off.  And  in  thy  holy  writings  it  is  written  thus  (Ps.  47:  6): 
God  has  gone  up  in  the  alarm-sound,  the  Lord  in  the  sound  of  the 
cornet.  And  further  (98:  6):  With  trumpets  and  the  sound  of  the 
cornet  strike  the  alarm-sound  before  the  Lord  our  God.  And 
further  (81 :  4,  5) :  Blow  ye  the  cornet  on  the  New  Moon,  on  the 
darkening,  the  day  of  our  Feast.  For  it  is  an  ordinance  to  Israel, 
a  judgment  of  <he  God  of  Jacob.  And  further  (Psalm  150,  see  it): 
And  by  the  hands  of  thy  servants,  the  prophets,  it  is  written  thus 
(Isa.  18:  3):  All  ye  that  dwell  in  the  world;  all  ye  that  inhabit  the 
earth,  ye  shall  see  when  the  banner  is  raised  on  the  hills;  when  the 
cornet  is  blown,  ye  shall  hear.*  And  further  (ib.  27:  13):  It  shall 
come  to  pass  on  that  day,  that  the  great  cornet  shall  be  blown;  and 
those  will  come  who  wander  in  the  land  of  Assyria,  and  they  who 
are  cast  out  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  they  shall  worship  before  the 
Lord  on  the  holy  Mount  in  Jerusalem.  And  further  (Zech.  9: 
14,  15):  And  the  Lord  will  appear  over  them;  his  arrow  will  go 
forth  like  lightning,  and  the  Lord  God  will  blow  the  cornet,  and 
go  forth  in  the  storms  of  the  South;  the  Lord  of  Hosts  will  shield 
them. 

Do  thus  shield  thy  people  Israel  with  thy  peace. 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  blow  the  great  cornet  for  our 
freedom,  lift  the  banner  to  gather  our  exiles;  bring  our  scattered 
home  from  among  the  Gentiles,  and  assemble  our  fragments  from 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  Bring  us  in  gleeful  song  to  Zion  and  to 
thy  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem  in  everlasting  delight.  There  we  shall 
offer  our  sacrifices,  as  in  duty  we  are  bound,  and  as  it  is  written  in 
thy  law  by  the  hands  of  Moses  from  the  mouth  of  thy  glory  (Num. 
10:  10):  On  any  day  of  your  gladness,  on  your  set  times  and  on 
your  New  Moons,  ye  shall  blow  the  trumpets  at  your  burnt-offering! 
and  at  your  peace-offerings,  and  they  shall  be  unto  you  for  a  memo- 
rial before  the  Lord  your  God.  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.  Thou 
hearest  the  voice  of  the  cornet,  and  listenest  to  the  alarm-sound; 
and  none  is  like  thee.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  heareth  the 
alarm-sound  of  his  people  Israel  in  mercy. 

Upon  Israelites  who  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  prophets, 
the  predictions  of  God's  Kingdom  on  earth,  the  assurance 
of  his  love  to  Jerusalem  and  even  to  Ephraim,  and  the 


1 62      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

expected  sounding  of  the  great  cornet  which  will  assemble 
all  their  outcasts  to  the  worship  of  the  Lord,  exert  the  most 
thrilling  effect.  Among  them  hardly  an  eye  remains  dry 
when  the  leader,  with  proper  feeling  and  expression,  reads 
the  Shofar  verses  from  Isaiah. 

The  old  rule  for  this  Prayer  was  for  the  private  wor- 
shipper to  read  it  silently  without  the  Kingdom  verses  in 
the  fourth  benediction  and  to  omit  the  fifth  and  sixth  alto- 
gether, relying  for  these  upon  the  leader.5  ^But  since  ser- 
vice books  have  become  so  cheap,  this  custom  has  been  for- 
gotten, and  every  one  reads  his  Musaf  in  full.  When  the 
leader  in  repeating  this  Prayer  has  gone  through  the 
first  paragraph  of  Alenu  and  enters  on  the  distinctive  part 
of  this  service,  he  prays  first  that  he  and  his  colleagues  may 
do  their  high  task  worthily: 

I  tarry  for  the  Lord,  I  supplicate  to  him,  I  ask  from  him  an 
answering  tongue,  him  whose  might  I  will  sing  among  the  assem- 
bled people,  pouring  out  glad  songs  about  his  deeds. 

Following  this  and  the  verses  Prov.  16:  i,  Ps.  51:  16, 
Ps.  19:  15,°  a  long  and  partially  rhymed  prayer  for  all  the 
messengers  of  the  Congregations  of  Israel  has  been  added. 
Both  of  them  are  also  spoken  in  the  corresponding  prayer 
of  the  Day  of  Atonement  at  the  same  point. 

After  the  fourth,  after  the  fifth,  and  after  the  sixth  bene- 
diction, the  leader  chants: 

This  is  the  birthday  of  the  world:  to-day  he  causes  all  its  crea- 
tures to  stand  in  judgment;  either  as  children  or  as  servants;  if 
we  be  like  children,  be  merciful  as  a  father  has  mercy  on  his 
children;  if  like  servants,  our  eyes  are  turned  to  thee,  till  thou  wilt 
show  us  grace  and  bring  forth  our  cause,  clear  as  light,  Terrible 
and  Holy  God.7 

Though  the  Musaf  of  the  Day  of  Memorial  is  the  only 
striking  part  in  its  services,  we  must  here  mention  the  peti- 
tions, "Our  Father, our  King,"  which  it  has  in  common  with 


THE  DA  Y  OF  MEMORIAL  163 

the  Day  of  Atonement  and  with  the  seven  intervening  days, 
or  with  six  of  them,  for  in  the  German  ritual  the  eve  of 
Atonement  Day  as  a  day  of  good  cheer  is  exempt  from  these 
petitions,  as  well  as  any  Sabbath.  They  are  also  spoken  on  a 
public  fast  other  than  the  Ninth  of  Ab. 

The  series  is  well-known  by  the  two  Hebrew  words,  Abinu 
Malkenu.  They  follow  immediately  upon  the  morning  and 
the  afternoon  Prayer,  but  are  omitted  in  the  latter  on  Fri- 
days. The  number  of  lines  varies  from  twenty-seven  in 
the  Sefardic  to  forty-four  in  the  Polish  branch  of  the  Ger- 
man ritual.  Premising  for  each  the  address,  Our  Father, 
our  King,  the  fullest  form  runs  thus: 

(i)  We  have  sinned  before  thee.  (2)  We  have  no  King  but  thee. 
(3)  Act  for  us  for  the  sake  of  thy  name.  (4)  Renew  (or  bless)  for 
us  a  good  year.  (5)  Annul  all  hard  sentences  against  us.  (6) 
Annul  the  plans  of  our  foes.  (7)  Defeat  the  counsel  of  our  ene- 
mies. (8)  Remove  all  our  oppressors  and  adversaries.  (9)  Stop 
the  mouths  of  our  adversaries  and  accusers.  (10)  Drive  pestilence, 
the  sword,  famine  and  captivity,  sin  [and  apostasy — blotted  out  by 
the  censor]  from  the  children  of  thy  covenant,  (n)  Keep  the 
plague  from  thy  heritage.  (12)  Pardon  and  forgive  all  our  iniqui- 
ties. (13)  Blot  our  transgressions  and  sins  from  thy  sight.  (14) 
Wipe  our  bonds  of  debt  out  in  thy  great  mercy.  (15)  Bring  us 
back  in  sincere  repentance  to  thy  presence.  (16)  Send  a  full  heal- 
ing to  the  sick  of  thy  people.  (17)  Tear  up  the  evil  sentence 
against  us.  (18)  Remember  us  for  good.  (19)  Write  us  in  the 
book  of  [at  the  close  of  Atonement  Day — "seal  us  in  the  book  of," 
on  fasts  other  than  in  Tishri — "remember  us  for"]  a  happy  life.  (20) 
Write  us  in  the  book  of  redemption  and  salvation.  (21)  Write  us 
in  the  book  of  provision  and  sustenance.  (22)  Write  us  in  the 
book  of  merit.  (23)  Write  us  in  the  book  of  forgiveness  and 
pardon.  (24)  Let  salvation  soon  grow  for  us.  (25)  Lift  the  horn 
of  thy  people  Israel.  (26)  Lift  the  horn  of  thy  anointed.  (27)  Fill 
our  hands  with  thy  blessing.  (28)  Fill  our  storehouses  with 
plenty.  (29)  Hear  our  voice,  spare  and  pity  us.  (30)  Receive  our 
prayer  with  mercy  and  good  will.  (31)  Open  to  our  prayer  the 
gates  of  heaven.  (32)  Do  not  turn  us  empty-handed  from  thee. 
(33)  Remember  that  we  are  dust.  (34)  Be  this  hour  an  hour  of 
mercy  and  the  time  of  favor.  (35)  Have  pity  on  us,  our  little 


164       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ones  and  our  children.  (36)  Act  for  the  sake  of  those  who  were 
killed  for  thy  holy  name.  (37)  Act  for  the  sake  of  those  who  were 
slaughtered  for  thy  Unity.  (38)  Act  for  the  sake  of  those  who 
went  into  fire  and  into  water  to  hallow  thy  name.  (39)  Avenge 
before  our  eyes  the  spilt  blood  of  thy  servants.  (40)  Do  it  for  thy 
sake,  if  not  for  ours.  (41)  Do  it  for  thy  sake  and  save  us.  (42)  Do 
it  for  the  sake  of  thy  great  mercy.  (43)  Do  it  for  the  sake  of  thy 
great,  mighty,  and  fearful  name,  that  is  pronounced  upon  us.  (44) 
Be  gracious  and  answer  us,  though  we  lack  in  works;  act  for  us 
in  charity  and  kindness  and  save  us. 

It  will  be  seen  that  many  of  the  petitions  of  the  work-day 
Prayer  are  contained  herein;  hence  the  omission  of  Abinu 
Malkcnu  on  the  Sabbath. 

Among  the  seventeen  lines  which  the  Sefardim  lack  in 
their  ritual  are  36-39,  which  refer  to  the  martyrs  to  our 
faith,  and  these  were  not  known  to  the  French  and  Germans 
at  the  date  of  the  Mahzor  Vitry.  They  were  probably 
inserted  after  the  persecutions  which  accompanied  the  Black 
Death  about  the  year  1348. 

The  Talmud  speaks  of  the  first  two  lines  as  part  of  a 
prayer  which  was  spoken  by  R.  Akiba  on  a  public  fast,  held 
in  a  season  of  drought.  The  series  was  transferred  from 
these  fasts  to  such  as  the  Seventeenth  of  Tammuz  and  the 
Fast  of  Gedaliah.  Abudraham  knows  it  only  in  this  light. 
R.  Joseph  Karo's  Code  speaks  of  it  incidentally  as  in  use  on 
the  Day  of  Atonement.  Among  the  Germans  its  use  on  the 
Day  of  Memorial  and  the  days  of  penitence  generally  seems 
to  have  been  much  older  than  among  the  Sefardim.8  It 
lends  itself  admirably  to  slow  chanting,  and  has  become  a 
favorite  devotion  even  in  radically  reformed  places  of  wor- 
ship. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   DAY    OF   ATONEMENT 

ALL  the  parts  of  the  seven  benedictions  in  the  Amida  for 
the  Day  of  Atonement  in  each  of  the  five  services  have 
been  given,  including  the  change  from  "writing"  into  "seal- 
ing" in  the  last  service,  known  as  Neila.  There  is  another 
important  element,  the  confession  of  sins,  which  the  indi- 
vidual worshipper  recites  after  the  seven  benedictions,  but 
which  the  leader,  in  repeating  the  Prayer,  includes  in  the 
Sanctity  of  the  Day,  which  is  also  the  Pardon  of  Iniquity. 
In  the  Atonement  service  set  forth  at  length  in  the  i6th 
chapter  of  Leviticus,  the  High  Priest  "confessed  all  the 
iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  all  their  transgres- 
sions, as  to  all  their  sins;"  and  such  a  confession,  which  now 
everybody  makes  for  himself,  is  thought  to  be  the  first  con- 
dition of  forgiveness. 

The  three  verbs  in  which  the  High  Priest  confessed  were, 
"I  have  sinned,  I  have  done  wrong,  I  have  transgressed;" 
the  guilt  rising  in  intensity  from  the  first  to  the  third.  A 
confession  in  such  words,  or  even  in  the  first  of  them,  would 
be  enough,  but  the  love  for  synonyms  arid  for  the  alphabet 
has  found  its  way  even  into  the  enumeration  of  sins. 

The  confession  (Viddui)  in  its  present  form  as  appended 
to  the  Amida  for  each  service  runs  thus: 

O  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  let  our  prayer  come  before  thee; 
do  not  hide  thyself  from  our  supplication;  for  we  are  not  so 
brazen-faced  or  stiffnecked  as  to  say  before  thee,  O  Lord  our  God 
and  God  of  our  fathers,  that  we  are  just,  and  that  we  have  not 
sinned.  Nay,  we  [some  add:  and  our  fathers]  have  sinned. 

We  have  been  guilty,  have  deceived,  have  robbed,  have  spoken 

(165) 


166       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

slander,  have  caused  wrong,  and  done  injustice,  have  acted  wan- 
tonly, have  done  violence,  have  fastened  lies,  have  counselled  evil, 
have  failed  in  promise,  have  scoffed,  have  rebelled,  have  blas- 
phemed, have  disobeyed,  have  done  wrong,  have  transgressed,  have 
oppressed,  have  hardened  our  necks,  have  been  wicked,  have  cor- 
rupted, have  done  abominably;  we  have  erred  and  led  into  error. 

We  have  departed  from  thy  commandments  and  thy  righteous 
judgments;  it  is  not  right  with  us.  But  thou  art  righteous  in  all 
that  has  befallen  us;  for  thou  hast  done  truthfully,  and  we  have 
done  wrong.  What  shall  we  say  before  thee,  who  dwellest  on 
hieh;  what  story  shall  we  tell  to  thee  who  residest  in  heaven;  dost 
thou  not  know  all  things,  both  the  seen  and  the  hidden? 

The  Talmud  says  distinctly  that  the  plain  words,  "but  we 
have  sinned,"  are  a  sufficient  fulfillment  of  the  Law.1  In  all 
the  services  other  than  the  last  (Neila),  the  confession  pro- 
ceeds: 

Thou  knowest  the  mysteries  of  the  world,  and  the  hidden  secrets 
of  all  that  has  life.  Thou  searchest  all  the  inward  chambers,  and 
provest  the  reins  and  the  heart.  Nothing  is  a  secret  from  thee;  nor 
is  anything  hidden  from  thy  eyes.  Be  it  thy  will,  O  Lord  our  God 
and  God  of  our  fathers,  to  forgive  us  for  all  our  sins,  to  pardon  us 
for  all  our  iniquities,  to  atone  for  all  our  transgressions. 

For  the  sin  that  we  have  committed  through — 

There  are  forty-four  of  such  lines,  two  for  each  letter  of 
the  alphabet,2  in  each  of  which  the  causes  or  occasions  of 
sin  are  stated  after  these  introductory  words,  a  few  in  very 
broad  or  all-embracing  terms,  as:  i,  "through  compulsion 
or  free-will;"  14,  "in  defiance  or  in  ignorance;"  others  more 
specific,  as  21,  "through  lying  and  deceit;"  23,  "by  scof- 
fing:" 24,  "by  the  evil  tongue;"  25,  "in  trade"  (literally,  in 
buying  and  selling);  41,  "by  false  swearing;"  42,  "by  un- 
founded hatred."  At  three  points  the  list  is  interrupted  by 
the  petition: 

"For  all  of  these,  God  of  forgiveness,  forgive  us,  pardon  us, 
atone  for  us." 

Then  come  nine  lines  beginning  with  the  words: 

"For  the  sin  by  which  we  have  incurred  the  guilt  (or 


THE  DA  Y  OF  A  TO  N EM E  NT  167 

duty)  of ,"  beginning  with  a  "burnt-offering,"  which 

was  the  expiation  for  a  sin  of  omission,  arising  from  mis- 
take, and  ending  with  the  "four  death  penalties  inflicted  by 
the  Court,"  which  must  be  breaches  of  the  highest  moral 
or  religious  prohibitions,  done  knowingly  and  defiantly. 
This  part  of  the  prayer  of  forgiveness  rests  on  the  doctrine 
that  the  infliction  of  the  penalty  named  in  the  Tora  wipes 
out  all  guilt;  hence,  as  these  penalties  are  not  and  cannot 
be  inflicted  in  our  days,  there  is  so  much  more  need  for 
God's  free  grace.3 

The  confession  then  closes: 

For  sins  of  omission  or  of  commission;  for  those  known  to  us 
and  for  those  unknown;  those  known  to  us,  we  have  already  named 
them  before  thee;  but  those  concealed  from  ourselves  are  seen  and 
known  of  thee,  as  it  is  written:  The  hidden  things  belong  to  the 
Lord  our  God;  but  the  things  revealed  belong  to  us  and  to  our 
children  forever,  to  do  all  the  words  of  this  Law. 

The  object  of  those  who  drew  up  the  confession,  "We 
have  been  guilty,"  and  the  longer  one,  "For  the  sin,"  in 
arranging  them  by  the  alphabet,  was  to  aid  the  memory  at  a 
time  when  books  were  scarce.  The  shorter  as  well  as  the 
longer  list  lie  under  the  same  objection:  the  many  general 
phrases  cannot  go  home  to  the  confessor's  heart,  but  rather 
draw  his  attention  away  from  his  own  faults,  which  he  is 
made  to  admit  only  in  a  few  instances.  It  was  left  to  the 
preacher  (and  there  has  nearly  always  been  preaching  on 
this  day)  to  set  forth  the  besetting  sin  of  the  time  and  place. 
The  general  introduction  is  Talmudic;  the  double  alphabet 
is  of  later  date.4 

A  much  finer  taste  has  been  displayed  in  the  confession 
for  the  fifth  or  Neila  service,  which,  after  the  first  three 
paragraphs,  proceeds  thus,  in  a  loftier  vein: 

Thou  lendest  a  hand  to  the  transgressor,  and  thy  right  hand  is 
stretched'  out  to  receive  the  repentant.  Thou  hast  taught  us,  O 
Lord  our  God,  to  confess  our  iniquities  before  thee,  that  we  may 


168       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

cease  from  our  wrongful  deeds,  and  thou  wilt  then  receive  us  as 
fully  restored  in  thy  sight,  as  upon  fire-offerings  and  sweet  savors. 
According  to  thy  words  which  thou  hast  spoken,  there  would  be 
no  end  of  the  offerings  we  owe,  no  counting  the  sweet  savors  for 
our  guilt;  but  thou  knowest  that  our  future  is  the  moth  and  the 
worm;  hence  thou  hast  multiplied  forgiveness.*  What  are  we, 
what  is  our  life,  what  our  goodliness,  what  our  virtue,  what  our 
help,  what  our  strength,  and  what  our  power?  What  shall  we  say 
before  thee,  O  Lord  our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers?  Are  not  all 
the  heroes  as  nothing  before  thee;  all  the  men  of  fame  as  if  they 
had  never  been;  all  the  wise  as  if  without  knowledge;  all  the  well- 
reasoning  men  as  if  without  sense?  For  their  many  actions  are  a 
waste;  the  days  of  their  lives  are  vanity  before  thee,  even  the  excel- 
lence of  man  over  the  beasts  is  nothing;  for  all  is  vanity. 

Thou  hast  set  man  apart  from  the  first,  and  thought  him  worthy 
to  stand  before  thee.  For  who  can  tell  thee  what  to  do,  and  if  he 
doeth  right,  what  does  he  give  thee  (see  Job  35:  7)?  And  thou 
hast  given  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  lovingly,  this  day  of  fast  and 
atonement,  an  end  and  pardon  and  forgiveness  for  our  iniquities, 
that  we  may  cease  from  our  wrongful  deeds,  and  return  to  thee  to 
do  thy  will  with  a  perfect  heart.  And  thou  spare  us  in  thy  great 
mercy;  for  thou  dost  not  desire  the  destruction  of  the  world,  as  it 
is  said  (Isa.  55:  6):  Seek  ye  the  Lord,  when  he  can  be  found; 
call  him  when  he  is  near.  And  further  (ib.  55:  7):  Let  the  wicked 
forsake  his  way,  and  the  evil-doer  his  thoughts;  and  let  him  return 
unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  show  him  mercy;  even  to  our  God,  who 
will  abundantly  pardon.  And  thou,  O  God  of  forgiveness,  art  long- 
suffering  and  great  in  kindness  and  truth,  and  doest  good  abun- 
dantly, and  thou  desirest  the  return  of  the  wicked,  and  not  their  death. 
As  it  is  said  (Ezek.  33:  n):  Say  unto  them,  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord 
God,  I  do  not  delight  in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  but  that  the 
wicked  turn  back  from  his  way, and  that  he  live;  return,  return  from 
your  evil  ways;  and  why  will  you  die,  O  House  of  Israel!  And 
further  (ib.  18:  23):  Do  I  indeed  delight  in  the  death  of  the 
wicked,  saith  the  Lord  God;  is  it  not,  that  he  turn  back  from  his 
ways,  and  that  he  may  live?  And  further  (ib.  18:  32):  For  I 
delight  not  in  the  death  of  the  dying,  saith  the  Lord  God.  Return 
and  live. 

This  reflection  is,  like  the  confession  proper,  read  by  the 
leader  as  part  of  the  "Sanctity  of  the  Day"  when  he-  repeats 
Neila.5  But  in  the  night  service,  when  the  Prayer  as  a 


THE  DA  Y  OF  A  TONEMENT  1 69 

whole  is  not  repeated,  the  leader  recites  the  "Order  of  Con- 
fession" alone.  In  this,  as  in  all  the  other  services,  it  is  then 
enlarged  by  Bible  verses,  short  petitions,  and,  if  there  is 
time  to  spare,  by  poetic  compositions  known  as  "Selihoth" 
(Forgivenesses),  some  of  which  are  quite  old,  reaching 
nearly  back  to  Talmud  times.  After  every  "Seliha"  God  is 
besought  to  remember  his  thirteen  qualities  of  mercy,  thus: 

God,  the  King,  sitteth  on  the  throne  of  mercy;  he  governs  in 
kindness,  he  pardons  the  iniquities  of  his  people,  he  passeth  by  the 
first  fault  again  and  again,  he  multiplieth  forgiveness  to  sinners  and 
pardon  to  those  who  transgress.  Thou  who  doest  righteously 
with  all  flesh  and  spirit,  do  not  requite  them  according  to  their 
evil  way!  God,  thou  hast  taught  them  to  r"ecite  the  thirteen;  re- 
member for  them  the  covenant  of  the  thirteen;  which  thou  madest 
known  to  the  Humble  (Moses)  of  old;  as  it  is  written  (Ex.  34:  5, 
6,  7):  And  the  Lord  came  down  in  a  cloud,  and  he  (Moses)  stood 
with  him  there  and  called  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  Lord 
passed  by  him,  and  called:  (i)  The  Lord,  the  Lord:  (2)  God,  (3) 
merciful  and  (4)  gracious,  (5)  long-suffering  and  (6)  great  in 
kindness  and  (7)  truth;  (8)  guarding  kindness  (9)  unto  a  thousand 
(generations);  (10)  taking  away  iniquity,  and  (n)  transgression, 
and  (12)  sin.  and  (13)  holding  guiltless!8 

The  thirteenth  quality  is  obtained  by  stopping  before  the 
negative,  which  makes  the  text  read,  "and  does  not  hold 
wholly  guiltless."  There  is  a  poetical  version  of  this  prayer, 
which  in  some  of  the  local  rituals  is  used  once  in  each  of  the 
services.  In  the  evening  service  the  Selihoth  are  introduced 
by  a  long  collection  of  Bible  verses,  which  deal  rather  with 
God's  wondrous  work  in  nature  than  with  the  forgiveness 
of  sins.  The  verses  chosen  are  not  everywhere  the  same. 
They  are  in  most  well-conducted  Synagogues  read  respon- 
sively,  the  leader  reading  the  odd  and  the  congregation 
the  even  numbered  verses. 

(Ps.  65:  3)  O  thou  that  hearest  prayer,  unto  thee  shall  all  flesh 
come.  All  flesh  shall  come  to  bow  before  thee,  O  Lord.  (From 
Isa.  66:  23.) 


1 70      JEWISH  SER VICES  IN  SYNA COGUE  AND  HOME 

Then:  Ps.  86:  9;  95:  6;  100:  4;  134:  l>  2>  *32'-  7>  99'  5>  95 
96:  9,  then  5:  8  and  138:  2  (changed  from  singular  to 
plural);  89:  9;  89:  7;  86:  10;  108:  5;  145:  3;  96:  4;  95:  3; 
Deut.  3:  24;  Jer.  10:  7;  10:  6;  Ps.  89:  14;  74:  16;  95:  4.  5) 
106:  2;  i  Chron.  29:  n;  Ps.  89:  12;  74:  17,  15,  14,  13; 
89:  10;  48:  2;  Isa.  37:  16;  Ps.  89:  8,  6;  95:  i,  2;  89:  15; 
55:  I5;95:  5- 

(Job  12:  10):  In  whose  hand  is  the  soul  of  every  living  thing  and 
the  breath  of  all  mankind.  We  have  come  for  thy  name;  do  for  the 
sake  of  thy  name;  for  the  sake  of  thy  glorious  name,  which  is  the 
gracious  and  merciful  God  (cmp.  Jer.  14:  7).  For  the  sake  of  thy 
name,  O  Lord,  thou  wilt  forgive  our  iniquity,  though  it  be  great. 
(Cmp.  Ps.  25:  n.) 

Most  of  the  verses  are  so  chosen  that  each  seems  to  be  sug- 
gested by  the  one  next  preceding  it.  But  this  belongs  only 
to  the  night  service,  Col  Nidre,  so-called.  Then  follow,  and 
in  the  other  services  there  are  first,  the  Selihoth,  after  each 
of  them  the  invocation,  "God,  King  that  sitteth,"  then,  in 
the  German  ritual  at  least,  an  aggregate  of  verses  and  short 
petitions,  which  must  have  grown  out  of  the  "Remem- 
brances" of  the  Day  of  Memorial.  The  verses  in  the 
Polish  Prayer  Book  are: 

Ps.  25:  6:  Remember  thy  mercies,  O  Lord,  and  thy  loving-kind- 
ness; for  they  are  from  everlasting.  Then:  Ps.  79:  8;  106:  4;  74:  2; 
then  a  made-up  verse:  Remember,  O  Lord,  the  affection  of  Jeru- 
salem; do  not  forget  the  love  of  Zion  eternally.  Then:  Ps.  137:  7; 
102:  14;  Ex.  32:  13;  Deut.  9:  27;  Num.  12:  n. 

But  the  next  piece,  which  is  recited  in  every  Atonement 
service,  except  in  Ne'ila,  is  most  characteristic.  Every  peti- 
tion is  fortified  by  a  verse  of  promise  from  the  Law  or 
the  Prophets;  the  trustful  Israelite  taking  his  heavenly 
Father  at  his  word.  The  verses  are  recited  with  deep  feel- 
ing. Only  a  few  of  them  are  copied  out  below: 

Remember  unto  us  the  covenant  of  the  fathers,  as  thou  hast  said 
(Lev.  26:  42):  I  will  remember  my  covenant  with  Jacob,  even  my 


THE  DA  Y  OF  A  TONEMENT  1 7 1 

covenant  with  Isaac,  even  my  covenant  with  Abraham  I  shall 
remember;  and  I  will  remember  the  land.  Remember  unto  us  the 
covenant  with  the  ancients,  as  thou  hast  said  (ib.  26:  45,  etc.)-  Do 
with  us  as  thou  hast  promised  unto  us  (ib.  26:  44):  And  yet  even 
this;  when  they  are  in  the  land  of  their  enemies  I  will  not  reject 
them,  nor  will  I  loathe  them,  to  make  an  end  of  them,  or  to  break 
my  covenant  with  them,  for  I  am  the  Lord  their  God.  Show 
mercy  to  us  and  do  not  destroy  us,  as  it  is  written  (Deut.  4:  31, 
etc.).  Circumcise  our  hearts  that  we  may  love  thy  name  (Deut.  30: 
6,  etc.).  Return  our  captives  and  show  mercy,  as  it  is  written 
(Deut.  30:  3,  etc.).  Gather  our  outcasts,  as  it  is  written  (Deut.  30: 
4,  etc.).  Let  thyself  be  found  when  we  seek  thee,  as  it  is  written 
(Deut.  4:  29):  And  ye  will  thence  seek  the  Lord  your  God,  and 
ye  will  find  him,  when  ye  seek  him  with  all  your  heart  and  with  all 
your  soul.  Blot  out  our  transgressions  for  thy  sake,  as  thou  hast 
said  (Isa.  43:  25,  etc.).  Blot  out  our  transgression  as  a  cloud,  as 
thou  hast  said  (Isa.  44:  22,  etc.).  Whiten  our  sins  as  snow  and  as 
wool,  as  it  is  written  (Isa.  i:  18):  Come  now,  let  us  reason  to- 
gether, saith  the  Lord;  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall 
be  white  as  snow;  though  they  be  red  as  crimson,  they  shall  be  as 
wool.  Sprinkle  upon  us  clean  waters  and  cleanse  us,  as  it  is 
written  (Ezek.  36:  25,  etc).  Atone  for  our  sins  and  cleanse  us  on 
this  day,  as  it  is  written  (Lev.  16:  30,  etc.).  Bring  us  to  thy  holy 
hill  and  gladden  us  in  thy  house  of  prayer,  as  it  is  written  (Isa. 
56:  7).7 

After  a  few  verses,  turned  from  the  singular  of  Holy  Writ 
into  the  plural  of  the  congregation  at  prayer,  the  leader 
proceeds: 

Do  not  forsake  us,  do  not  reject  us,  brin?  us  not  to  shame;  do 
not  break  thy  covenant  with  us.  Lead  us  to  thy  Law,  teach  us  thy 
commandments;  instruct  us  in  thy  ways;  bend  our  hearts  to  fear 
thee;  circumcise  them,  that  we  may  love  thee,  and  that  we  return 
to  thee  truly  and  perfectly.  For  the  sake  of  thy  great  name  pardon 
and  forgive  our  iniquity,  as  it  is  written  in  thy  holy  words  (Ps. 
25:  n):  For  the  sake  of  thy  great  name,  forgive  my  iniquity, 
though  it  be  great. 

Then  the  following  is  read  responsively  in  Ne'ila  as  well 
as  in  the  other  services: 


172       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Forgive,  pardon,  atone!  for 
We  are  thy  people  and  thou  art  our  God. 

We  are  thy  sons  and  thou  art  our  Father. 
We  are  thy  servants  and  thou  art  our  Master. 

We  are  thy  flock  and  thou  art  our  Shepherd. 
We  are  thy  vineyard  and  thou  art  our  Keeper. 

We  are  thy  heritage  and  thou  art  our  portion. 
We  are  hoping  in  thee  and  thou  art  our  Saviour. 

We  are  thy  work  and  thou  art  our  Maker. 
We  are  thy  treasure  and  thou  art  our  kinsman. 

We  are  thy  people  and  thou  art  our  King. 
We  are  thy  bride  and  thou  art  our  lover. 

We  are  vouching  for  thee,  and  thou  vouchest  for  us. 

(Cmp.  Deut.  26:  13.) 

We  are  brazen-faced;  but  thou  art  gracious  and  merciful; 
We  are  stiffnecked,  and  thou  art  long-suffering; 
We  are  full  of  iniquity,  and  thou  art  full  of  mercy; 
We — our  days  are  a  passing  shadow;  but  thou  art  the  same;  thy 
days  never  end. 

Then  comes  the  shorter  confession  as  in  the  silent  Prayer. 
Then: 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  forgive  and  pardon  our  iniquity 
on  this  Day  of  Atonement;  listen  to  our  prayer;  blot  our  iniquities 
from  thy  sight;  bend  our  impulse  that  we  may  serve  thee;  let  us 
bow  our  necks  to  return  to  thee;  renew  our  reins  that  we  observe 
thy  statutes;  circumcise  our  hearts  to  love  thy  name;  as  it  is 
written  (Deut.  30:  6,  etc.).  Thou  knowest  what  is  wilful  sin  and 
what  is  error. 

Then  follows,  "What  are  we — all  is  vanity"  as  in  Neila; 
and  "What  shall  we  say  before  thee,"  leading  to  the  longer 
confession. 

After  this  the  leader  refers  to  other  Bible  %verses  in  which 
forgiveness  and  cleansing  from  guilt  are  promised.  Fore- 
most among  them  are  the  three  closing  verses  of  the 
prophecy  of  Micah.  Here  the  words,  "Thou  wilt  cast  all 
their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea,"  are  brought  into 
prominence.8 

It  may  be  here  remarked  that  the  collection  of  verses, 


THE  DA  Y  OF  A  TONEMENT 


173 


"Thou  who  hearest  prayer,"  the  Selihoth  with  the  inter- 
spersed "thirteen  qualities,"  the  verses  asking  God  to  re- 
member us,  and  the  verses  reminding  him  of  his  Scrip- 
tural promises,  together  with  the  shorter  confession,  are 
also  recited  very  early  in  the  morning  before  the  regular 
morning  service  on  the  days  between  the  Day  of  Memorial 
and  the  Day  of  Atonement  and  on  a  number  of  days  preced- 
ing the  former,  which  are  hence  known  as  Selihoth-da.ys. 
This  is  a  well-known  custom  everywhere,  but  it  is  not  so 
well-known  that  in  many  places  in  Germany  there  are  still 
ascetics  who  carry  on  a  similar  service  on  every  work-day 
of  the  year  not  marked  as  joyous  or  festive.  This  service 
is  known  as  Shomer  labbokcr  (watchman  of  the  morning).9 

The  "Order  of  Confession"  in  the  Atonement  night  ser- 
vice (unless  it  be  on  the  Sabbath),  also  on  the  mornings  of 
Selihoth-days,  closes  with  three  sets  of  invocations.  The 
first,  "O  Lord,  do  it  for  the  sake  of  thy  name,"  proceeds 
through  the  twenty-two  letters  of  the  alphabet  (Do  it  for 
the  sake  of  thy  Truth,  etc.),  then  eighteen  invocations, 
e.  g.,  "Do  it  for  the  sake  of  the  children  at  school,"  they 
being  according  to  Talmudic  views  the  part  of  mankind 
dearest  in  the  sight  of  God.  Next,  "Answer  us,  O  Lord, 
answer  us;"  running  from,  "Answer  us,  our  Father  (Abimi), 
answer  us,"  for  Aleph,  through  the  twenty-two  letters,  and 
then  through  eleven  other  attributes  to  "Answer  us,  Father 
of  the  fatherless,  answer  us,  Judge  of  the  widows,  answer 
us."  Lastly,  "He  who  answered  our  Father  Abraham  on 
Mount  Moriah,  he  will  answer  us;"  which  runs  through 
twenty  lines,  in  which  other  Biblical  characters  and  occa- 
sions are  substituted. 

This  last  series  dates  back  to  seven  invocations,  which 
were  recited  in  the  days  of  the  Temple  in  times  of  drought, 
calling  on  him  who  answered  Abraham  on  Mount  Moriah, 
who  answered  our  fathers  on  the  sea,  who  answered  Joshua 
at  Gilgal,  Samuel  at  Mizpah,  Elijah  on  Mount  Carmel, 


174       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Jonah  in  the  belly  of  the  fish,  David  and  Solomon  in  Jeru- 
salem.10 

In  the  morning  and  afternoon  services  the  "Order  of 
Confession,"  enlarged  by  the  leader  in  his  repetition  of  the 
Prayer  as  above  indicated,  brings  us  to  the  last  part  of  the 
"Sanctity  of  the  Day."  But  the  "additional"  Prayer  has 
another  feature,  the  Aboda,  or  Service,  i.  e.,  a  recital  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  Atonement  service  was  conducted  by 
the  High  Priest  at  Jerusalem,  and  this  precedes  the  "Order 
of  Confession"  as  given  above. 

The  leader  begins  with  the  first  paragraph  of  Alenu  as 
on  the  Day  of  Memorial,  then  chants  the  petitions  for  "an 
answering  tongue"  and  for  a  worthy  ministration  by  himself 
and  his  colleagues,  as  shown  in  Chapter  XL  Then  he 
launches  into  a  rather  dry  account  of  the  service,  as  sketched 
in  Leviticus  and  in  the  Mishna.  This  contains  the  three 
confessions  of  sin  which  the  High  Priest  pronounced,  when 
he  atoned  first  for  himself  and  his  own  household,  next 
for  himself  and  his  wider  household,  the  whole  priestly 
tribe,  lastly  for  himself  and  all  Israel.  Where  "the  Name" 
or  "the  Lord"  now  occurs,  the  High  Priest  uttered  the 
Tetragrammaton.  The  Hebrew  Anna,  an  interjection  often 
used  in  prayer  ("We  beseech  thee,"  in  the  English  Bible), 
is  best  rendered  by  "O  now."  The  first  confession  is  given 
thus : 

And  thus  he  would  say: 

"O  now,  the  Name,  I  have  done  wrong,  I  have  sinned,  I  have 
transgressed  before  thee,  I  and  my  household;  O  now,  for  the 
Name,  atone  for  the  sins,  the  iniquities,  the  transgressions,  which 
I  have  sinned  and  done  wrongfully  and  transgressed  before  thee, 
I  and  my  household;  as  it  is  written  in  thy  law  (Lev.  16:  30):  For 
on  that  day  he  shall  atone  for  you,  to  cleanse  you  from  all  your  sins 
before  the  Lord." 

And  when  the  priests  and  people  standing  in  the  court  heard 
the  "plain  Name"  come  forth  from  the  mouth  of  the  High  Priest 
in  holiness  and  purity,  they  knelt  and  bowed  down  and  fell  on  their 
faces,  and  said:  "Blessed  be  the  name  of  his  glorious  Kingdom 


THE  DA  Y  OF  A  TONEMENT  175 

forever  and  ever."  Even  he  sought  to  finish  the  Name  in  harmony 
with  those  who  blessed,  and  then  said  to  them — "ye  shall  be 
clean." 

In  the  second  confession  "the  priestly  tribe"  is  substi- 
tuted for  the  household;  in  the  third,  "thy  people,,  the  house 
of  Israel."11 

It  remains  to  be  told  how  the  Atonement  services  are 
begun  on  the  first  evening  and  how  closed  on  the  next. 

On  the  first  evening,  slightly  before  night-fall,  the  two 
most  learned  and  reputable  men  of  the  congregation  stand 
up  with  the  leader,  and  all  three  say  thrice: 

"By  the  opinion  of  God  and  the  opinion  of  the  assembly,  as 
given  in  the  session  on  high  and  in  the  session  below,  we  give 
leave  to  pray  with  the  transgressors." 

Formerly  this  was  not  an  empty  form;  it  meant  that  the 
excommunicated  might  join  with  the  congregation  in  the 
devotions  of  the  day.  As  the  leader  was  not  chosen  for  his 
musical  training,  but  for  his  worth  and  learning,  the  three 
formed  a  sort  of  Court  (Beth  Din),  with  power  to  absolve 
from  the  ban.12 

Next  comes  the  Remission  of  Vows  (Col  Nidre},  which 
has  given  much  trouble  among  persecuting  Gentiles  as  well 
as  among  our  own  brethren. 

Vowing  has  been  the  bane  not  of  the  Jews  alone,  but  of 
men  of  all  races  and  creeds.  The  vow  might  be  of  some 
self-infliction,  an  extra  fast,  abstention  from  wine  or  animal 
food,  or  from  the  enjoyment  of  anything  belonging  to  a 
named  person;  or  that  a  named  person  should  have  no  en- 
joyment from  the  belongings  of  him  that  made  the  vow. 
The  Bible  warns  against  taking  vows  lightly;  the  Rabbis 
discouraged  them,  and  found  ways  to  annul  them.  They 
laid  down  a  rule  that  if,  on  the  first  day  of  the  year,  a  man 
declared:  all  the  vows  I  make  this  year  are  void,  those  vows 
would  be  void,  unless  he  should,  when  vowing,  think  of  this 
declaration,  and  nevertheless  declare:  this  vow  shall 


176       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

stand.13  This  view  is  best  illustrated  by  an  act  of  an 
American  legislature,  which  declares:  Any  charter  granted 
hereafter  by  this  or  any  subsequent  legislature  shall  be 
revocable,  unless  it  is  in  so  many  words  made  irrevocable. 
For  a  long  time  men  used  to  make  such  a  declaration  on 
the  first  of  Tishri  (New  Year)  in  private  or  before  witnesses. 
When  the  custom  arose  for  all  to  make  it  in  public  on  the 
eve  of  Atonement,  the  leader  singing  it  to  slow  music,  is 
not  easy  to  ascertain. 

Col  Nidre  was  drawn  up  with  a  view  to  the  classification 
of  vows  given  in  the  3oth  chapter  of  Numbers  and  to  the 
rules  given  in  the  Mishna.  For  greater  assurance  it  takes 
in  "by-names,"  that  is,  vows  made  in  mutilated  words,  like 
Konam  for  Corban  (sacrifice),  because  such  are  valid.  Seven 
synonyms  were  strung  out,  not  because  a  gushing  heart 
craved  the  fullest  expression,  but  simply  to  meet  all  possible 
cases;  in  short,  Col  Nidre  is  neither  prayer  nor  praise,  but  a 
legal  document.  It  is  drawn  up  in  Aramaic,  like  other 
documents,  except  the  clause  limiting  the  time  for  which  it 
is  to  take  effect.  It  reads  thus  in  the  German  Ritual: 

All  vows  and  prohibitions,  and  bans,  and  devotions  for  sacrifice, 
and  vowings  by  nickname,  and  penalties  and  oaths,  which  w£  have 
vowed,  or  which  we  have  sworn,  or  which  we  have  put  under  ban, 
or  which  we  have  forbidden  to  ourselves  (from  this  Day  of  Atone- 
ment to  the  next  Day  of  Atonement,  may  it  come  in  peace) ;  we 
have  repented  of  all  of  them;  let  all  of  them  be  dissolved,  aban- 
doned, put  at  rest,  be  void,  and  be  annulled;  not  valid,  nor  of  force; 
our  vows  are  no  vows,  our  prohibitions  are  no  prohibitions,  our 
oaths  are  no  oaths.14 

This  is  sung  three  times.  Then  the  leader  and  congrega- 
tion say  thrice: 

(Num.  15:  26):  And  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of 
Israel  shall  be  forgiven  and  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  among 
them;  for  as  to  all  the  people  it  was  done  unwittingly. 

In  the  Polish  ritual  Num.  14:  19  is  also  read,  the  congre- 


THE  DAY  OF  A  TO  N EM E NT  177 

gation  answering  thrice  in  the  verse  following:     "And  the 
Lord  said:  I  have  pardoned  according  to  thy  word." 

The  above  is  the  form  and  theory  of  Col  Nidrc  as  it  was 
settled  for  the  Jews  of  the  German  Ritual  by  Rabbenu  Tarn 
in  the  twelfth  century.  But  the  Sefardim  define  the  time 
of  the  loosed  vows  otherwise;  they  say  "from  the  Day  of 
Atonement  last  past  unto  this,"  as  well  as  from  the  present 
one  to  the  next,  and  justify  this  on  the  ground  that  they 
need  forgiveness  for  the  vows  which  they  have  already  made, 
and  which,  from  forgetfulness  or  weakness,  they  may  have 
violated.  The  verbs,  "which  we  have  vowed,"  etc.,  are  all 
in  the  past  tense,  and  in  Aramaic  prose  the  tenses  are 
hardly  ever  mixed  up.  There  is  a  mode  pointed  out  in  the  • 
Mishna  by  which  three  men,  acting  as  judges,  may  remit 
a  vow  for  good  cause  shown;  but  that  would  certainly  not 
cover  the  case  of  a  wholesale  remission  of  all  the  vows  of 
everybody  made  during  a  whole  year.  According  to  the 
Sefardic  theory  of  Col  Nidrc,  the  verse  from  Numbers, 
promising  forgiveness  for  acts  done  unwittingly,  is  quoted 
with  a  view  to  the  probable  violation  of  vows  theretofore 
made.15 

According  to  either  theory  Col  Nidre  must  be  recited  or 
at  least  begun  while  it  is  not  quite  night,  as  either  a  declara- 
tion regarding  vows  or  a  formal  remission  of  vows  is  not 
proper  on  a  Sabbath  or  Festival,  being  in  its  nature  a  judi- 
cial act. 

When  all  this  has  been  said,  the  Day  of  Atonement  is 
fully  on.  It  is  proper  then  to  thank  God  in  the  usual  way 
for  having  spared  us  to  see  the  Festival,  for  such  the  Day  of 
Atonement  is.  On  other  Festivals  thanks  are  given  over 
the  wine  cup;  as  this  cannot  be  done  on  a  fast  day,  the 
leader  in  the  evening  service,  before  beginning  it,  says  the 
benediction: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
let  us  live  and  kept  us  up  and  made  us  reach  this  time. 


178       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Then  he  addresses  the  congregation,  "Bless  ye"  (see 
Ch.  V),  reads  the  Shema  with  its  benedictions  (Ch.  Ill), 
and  finishes  the  evening  service  as  explained  in  Chapters 
VI,  VII,  IX,  and  the  present  chapter,  adding  Abinu  Mal- 
kenu  towards  the  end,  unless  it  be  Friday  night. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  Ne'ila  is  read,  and 
is  finished  about  sundown,  followed  by  Abinu  Malkcnu  and 
the  complete  Kaddish.  Then  the  sacred  names  are  given 
out  by  way  of  confession  of  faith,  all  present  repeating  them 
after  the  leader,  "Hear,  O  Israel"  once;  "Blessed  be  the 
Name"  thrice;  "the  Lord  is  the  God"  (i  Kings  18:  39) 
seven  times;  this  ends  the  services  of  the  great  day.16 

The  modern  custom  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  the  Spanish 
and  German  Jews  of  Asiatic  Turkey  is  to  spend  the  whole 
Day  of  Atonement  with  prayers,  Bible  lessons,  and  sermons, 
the  afternoon  lessons  following  the  "additional"  without 
intermission,  a  custom  which  makes  fasting  easier  to  those 
who  enter  into  the  spirit  of  Bible  and  Prayer  Book.  But 
in  the  old  native  congregations  at  and  around  Bagdad, 
among  the  descendants  of  the  Jews  who  elaborated  the 
Talmud,  this  is  not  so.  They  read  their  morning  Prayer, 
Bible  lessons,  and  "additional"  in  the  forenoon,  go  home 
and  return  in  time  for  the  lessons  and  Prayer  of  the  after- 
noon, finishing  Neila  with  sunset.17  That  the  Day  of 
Atonement  was  not  all  spent  in  worship  while  the  Temple 
stood  in  its  glory  is  proved  by  the  following  account  given 
by  Simeon  ben  Gamaliel,  a  survivor:  "Israel  had  no  such 
holidays  as  the  Fifteenth  of  Ab  and  the  Day  of  Atonement. 
For  on  these  days  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  would  go 
out  in  white  borrowed  garments  (all  borrowed  so  as  not  to 
put  those  having  none  to  shame).  They  went  out  and 
danced  in  the  vineyards.  And  what  did  they  say  there? 
Young  man  (they  said),  lift  now  thy  eyes  and  see  what 
thou  choosest  for  thyself.  Do  not  fix  thy  eye  on  beauty 
but  on  family  (good  stock)."18 

NOTE. — Beside  the  divergencies  of  the  Sefardic  from  the 


THE  DAY  OF  A  TONEMEN7  1 79 

German  Ritual,  already  stated  in  this  chapter  and  in  Chapter 
IX,  it  may  be  further  said:  i.  The  following  twelve  Psalms 
are,  by  the  Sefardim,  added  in  the  morning  hymns  (see  next 
chapter),  Psalms  17,  25,  32,  51,  65,  85,  86,  102,  103,  104, 
98,  121.  2.  In  the  complete  Kaddish,  after  every  Prayer, 
a  long  Hebrew  supplication  for  the  hearing  and  answer- 
ing of  our  prayers  is  inserted  before  the  short  Aramaic 
clause  to  that  effect.  3.  The  introduction,  "It  is  our  duty  " 
(Alenu),  to  the  Kingdom  verses,  at  least  its  first  para- 
graph, is  made  part  of  the  Sanctity  of  the  Day  in  Musaf, 
not  only  for  the  leader  in  repeating  it,  but  in  the  silent 
Prayer.  4.  In  the  "Order  of  Confessions,"  as  read  by  the 
leader,  the  shorter  confession  ("We  are  guilty")  is  given 
out  twice,  with  a  plaintive  piece  between,  as  is  customary 
on  the  "Selihoth  days"  and  fasts.  5.  The  Thrice-Holy  or 
Kedusha,  for  the  morning  and  early  afternoon  services,  is 
in  the  shorter  form  with  three  responses  only,  while  with 
the  Germans  it  has  five.  6.  After  the  morning,  the  Addi- 
tional, and  the  Miriha  Prayer,  lists  of  invocations  are  read, 
like  those  which  the  Germans  have  at  the  end  of  the  even- 
ing service,  and  which  like  these  are  survivals  of  the  old 
"Public  Fasts."  Here  also  some  of  the  Selihoth  are  in- 
serted, followed  by  "God  the  King"  and  the  thirteen  quali- 
ties. 7.  After  the  Additional,  with  its  complete  Kaddish, 
the  Germans  at  once  proceed  with  the  lessons  of  the  after- 
noon service,  thus  running  the  forenoon  and  afternoon 
services  into  one  whole.  The  Sefardim  close  Musaf  with 
some  of  the  Talmudic  passages,  prose  pieces,  and  poetry, 
with  which  the  Sabbath  forenoon  services  are  wound  up, 
and  begin  Minha  with  the  Psalm  verses,  etc.,  of  the  Sab- 
bath afternoon  service,  thus  leaving  open  a  seam  between 
forenoon  and  afternoon.  8.  The  Sefardim  recite,  "Our 
Father,  our  King"  after  Minha,  the  Germans  after  Ne'ila. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PSALMS  AND  BIBLE  VERSES  IN  THE  SERVICE 

THE  Psalms  were  written  as  hymns  or  supplications  in 
public  or  private  worship.  Some  of  them  show  this  in  the 
context;  as  Ps.  118  in  the  words:  "This  is  the  day  the 
Lord  hath  made,  let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice  therein ;"  others 
by  the  heading,  as  Ps.  92,  a  "song  for  the  Sabbath,"  or  100, 
"for  Thanksgiving,"  that  is,  to  be  sung  at  the  Thanksgiv- 
ing sacrifice,  named  in  Leviticus  22:  29. 

The  six  Psalms,  113-118,  known  jointly  as  "The  Praise" 
(Hallel),  are  much  discussed  in  the  oldest  standards.  They 
were  probably  written  for  the  Feast  of  Hanucca.  "All  the 
nations  surround  me;  in  the  Lord's  name,  I  shall  cut  them 
down,"  points  to  a  bloody  war;  "the  Lord  has  sorely  chas- 
tised me,"  to  a  war  at  first  unsuccessful;  "open  to  me  the 
gates  of  righteousness,  I  will  enter  them,  and  thank  the 
Lord,"  points  to  the  Temple  re-opened  for  the  service  of 
the  true  God.  The  scorn  of  idols  and  idol-makers  poured 
out  in  Ps.  115  bears  witness  to  a  fierce  struggle  with  idola- 
ters, and,  as  said  above,  these  Psalms  were  written  for  a 
feast;  the  many  Aramaic  forms  indicate  a  late  date  of 
authorship;  so  Hanucca  may  have  been  that  feast.1  The 
Mishna  treats  them  as  one  composition,  and  the  Halleluiah 
at  the  end  of  four  chapters  is  a  choral  response  rather  than 
a  part  of  the  context.2 

The  Hallel  was  originally  recited:  I.  On  the  Passover 
night,  at  the  meal  made  of  the  Paschal  lamb,  as  now  it  is  at 
the  family  supper,  taking  the  place  thereof;  2,  on  the  first 
day  of  the  Passover  in  the  morning;  this  day  is  doubled 
"in  Exile;"  3,  on  Pentecost;  4,  on  the  Feast  of  Booths,  in- 

(180) 


PSALMS  AND  BIBLE  I'ERSES  IN  THE  SERVICE       i8l 

chiding  the  closing  day;  the  Talmud  treats  of  it  mainly  in 
connection  with  this  feast;  5,  on  the  eight  days  of  Ha- 
nucca.3 

On  all  these  days  the  whole  Hallel  is  read,  and  in  the 
Sefardic  ritual  the  benediction  runs:  "Blessed  be,  etc.,  who 
has  commanded  us  to  complete  the  Praise."  But  later  on, 
it  seems  after  the  completion  of  the  Talmud,  these  Psalms 
were  introduced  into  the  service  on  the  middle  and  end 
days  of  the  Passover  and  on  New  Moons,  except  the  New 
Moon  of  Tishri,  the  solemn  Day  of  Judgment.  The  inno- 
vators, however,  dared  not  place  their  ordinance  on  a  level 
with  that  of  their  heroic  forefathers;  so  for  the  new  occa- 
sions they  clipped  the  songs  of  praise.  The  first  eleven 
verses  of  the  H5th  and  as  many  of  the  n6th  Psalm  were 
to  be  omitted.  The  H5th  then  opens  with  the  words: 
"The  Lord  has  been  mindful  of  me;"  the  n6th:  "How  shall 
I  return."  These  are  natural  divisions;  when  the  whole 
Hallel  is  read  the  leader  rests  here  as  at  the  end  of  a  chap- 
ter. By-the-by,  the  version,  "all  men  are  liars,"  in  Ps.  116: 
n,  is  incorrect.  The  true  meaning  is  "every  man  is  unre- 
liable." The  Hebrew  verb  used  here  in  the  participle 
means  to  break  promises,  not  to  tell  an  untruth. 

Before  the  so-called  "Half  Hallel,"  the  Sefardim  bless, 
as  the  Germans  always  do,  him  "who  has  commanded  us 
to  read  the  Hallel."4 

The  n8th  Psalm  is  opened  with  the  much  older  verse, 
"Give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  is  good;  for  his  mercy 
endureth  forever"  (literally,  "for  forever  is  his  kindness"). 
This  was  so  well-known  by  all,  even  those  who  understood 
not  another  word  of  Hebrew,  that  the  assembled  multi- 
tude was  called  on  to  shout  only  this  one  line  in  response, 
after  the  leader  had  given  out  either  it  or  one  of  the  three 
following  verses,  Let  Israel  now  say,  Let  the  House  of 
Aaron  now  say,  Let  those  that  fear  the  Lord  now  say,  and 
this  is  still  the  custom.5 

The  last   nine  verses,   beginning  "I   will   thank   thee," 


182       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

are  spoken  twice;  that  is,  the  leader  gives  them  out  and  the 
congregation  says  each  verse  after  him.  The  hemistichs, 
"O  now,  O  Lord,  save  now"  (Hosianna)  and  "O  now,  O 
Lord,  give  but  prosperity,"  are  repeated  separately.  The 
reason  commonly  assigned  is  this:  in  all  the  preceding 
verses  of  the  Psalm  some  words  occur  twice,  which  gr.ve  an 
opportunity  to  alternating  choirs,  but  not  in  these  last  verses; 
hence  they  had  to  be  sung  twice.  In  the  Polish  ritual 
the  responsive  method  has  been  lost,  and  every  one  says 
twice  the  verses  that  should  be  repeated  by  way  of  response. 
Hallel  is  closed  with  this  benediction: 

O  Lord  our  God,  may  all  thy  works  praise  thee,  and  thy  saints, 
who  do  thy  will,  and  all  thy  people  Israel  in  glad  song  bless  and 
honor  thy  glorious  name;  for  it  is  proper  to  give  thanks  to  thee, 
and  pleasant  to  play  melodies  to  thy  name;  and  from  everlasting 
to  everlasting  thou  art  God;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  King 
praised  in  hymns. 

(Six  of  the  synonyms  for  "bless  and  honor"  have  been 
omitted.) 

From  the  U4th  Psalm  (When  Israel  went  forth  from 
Egypt)  the  whole  series  is  sometimes  called  the  Hallel  of 
Egypt,  to  distinguish  it  from  "the  Great  Hallel,"  that  is, 
Psalm  136,  and  the  name  of  Hallel  is  also  applied  to  the  five 
last  chapters  of  the  Psalter,  or  at  least  to  Psalms  148  and 
150.  The  Great  Hallel  is  a  favorite  with  the  young  through 
the  merry  ring  of  its  steady  burden,  Ki  leolam  hasdo  (for  his 
mercy  endureth  forever). 

Among  the  morning  hymns  for  all  days  the  most  im- 
portant is  Psalm  145,  preceded  by  two  verses  (84:  5,  and 
144:  15):  "Happy  are  they  who  sit  in  thy  House;  they  will 
still  be  praising  thee,  Selah.  Happy  is  the  people  that  is 
in  such  a  case;  happy  is  the  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord;" 
and  followed  by  this  (115:  18):  "But  we  will  bless  the  Lord, 
from  this  time  forth  and  for  evermore!  praise  ye  the  Lord." 
The  whole  is  known  as  Ashre  (Happy),  from  its  first  word. 


PSALMS  AND  BIBLE  VERSES  IN  THE  SERVICE       183 

The  two  grounds  for  choosing  this  Psalm  are,  that  it  is 
alphabetic  and  that  it  teaches  in  its  sixteenth  verse  how 
God  nourishes  all  his  creatures. 

When  and  how  the  other  morning  hymns  gathered  round 
this  center  it  is  hard  to  ascertain.  There  is  a  benediction  to 
be  read  before  and  after  them  like  grace  before  and  after 
meals;  the  Sefardim  have  denied  a  place  between  the  two 
to  the  latest  accretions,  keeping  them  on  the  outside  before 
the  opening  benediction,  and  are  followed  herein  by  the 
Hasidim. 

The  order  in  the  Geiman  ritual  is  this:  The  opening 
benediction,  next  the  song  ascribed  to  David,  I  Chron.  16: 
8-36,  then  twenty-two  scattering  Psalm  verses,  as  follows: 
Ps.  99:  5,  9;  78:  38;  40:  12;  25:  6;  68:  35,  36;  94:  I,  2;  then 
three  end  verses  used  also  at  other  times:  (46:  12)  "The 
Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us,  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  tower, 
Selah."  (84:  13)  "O  Lord  of  Hosts,  happy  is  the  man  who 
trusteth  in  thee."  (20:  10)  "O  Lord,  save;  the  King  will 
answer  us,  when  we  call."  Then  Ps.  28:  9;  33:  20,  21,  22; 
85 :  8;  44:  27581:  ii ;  144:  15;  13:  6. 

The  number  twenty-two  of  the  verses  is  that  of  the  letters 
in  the  alphabet,  and  indicates  a  Cabbalistic  origin.  Abu- 
draham  still  objects  to  the  Song  from  Chronicles  as  well 
as  to  the  twenty-two  verses  as  an  unauthorized  addition  to 
the  services,  though  the  former  is  recommended  by  the 
"Treatise  of  Scribes"  (Soferim). 

The  German  ritual  has,  after  the  benediction,  the  piece 
from  Chronicles  and  the  twenty-two  verses,  on  work-days 
the  Psalm  at  Thanksgiving  (Ps.  100);  but  on  Sabbaths  and 
Festivals  these  nine  Psalms,  19,  34,  90,  91,  135,  136,  (Great 
Hallel)?  33,  92  (the  Sabbath  Psalm),  93.  But  the  Sefardic 
ritual  has,  after  the  twenty-two  verses,  Psalms  30,  103  and 
19.  (Abudraham  still  objected  to  the  use  of  19  on  work- 
days) ;  then  on  Sabbaths  and  Festivals  Psalms  33,  34,  90,  91 ; 
(then  on  Passover  107,  on  Pentecost  68,  on  Feast  of  Booths 
42  and  43,  on  the  Day  of  Memorial  81,  on  the  Day  of  Atone- 


184       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ment  twelve  named  Psalms);  then  98,  121,  122, 123,124,135, 
136;  then  the  benediction;  then,  on  work-days,  100,  on 
Sabbaths  and  Festivals,  92,  93.  Thereafter  the  rituals  agree, 
first,  eighteen  verses  analogous  to  the  eighteen  benedictions 
beginning:  (104:  31)  "Let  the  glory  of  the  Lord  endure  for- 
ever; the  Lord  rejoiceth  in  his  works."  Then  follow  verses 
2,  3,  4  of  1 13;  then  Ps.  135:  13;  103:  19;  i  Chr.  16:  31;  then 
this  line  made  up  by  the  "Treatise  of  Scribes,"  of  which 
the  latter  half  is  from  Ex.  15,  "The  Lord  is  King,  the  Lord 
has  reigned,  the  Lord  will  reign  forever  and  ever."  Then 
Ps.  10:  i6;33:  10;  Prov.  19:  21;  Ps.  33:  11,9;  132:  13;  135: 
4.  (94:  14)  "For  the  Lord  will  not  reject  his  people,  and 
will  not  forsake  his  heritage."  Then  Ps.  78:  38  and  20:  10, 
which  we  meet  again  at  the  head  of  the  evening  services. 

Then  comes  Ashrc  as  defined  above,  then  the  five  Halle- 
luiah Psalms,  146-150;  then  the  doxologies  from  the  ends 
of  three  Psalm  books : 

(89:  53):  Blessed  be  the  Lord  for  evermore.  Amen  and  Amen. 
(106:  48):  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  from  everlast- 
ing even  to  everlasting;  and  let  all  the  people  say,  Amen,  praise 
ye  the  Lord.  (72:  18,  19):  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of 
Israel,  who  only  doeth  wondrous  things.  And  blessed  be  his  glori- 
ous name  forever;  and  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  his  glory. 
Amen  and  Amen. 

Then  the  following  words  of  homage,  i  Chron.  29:  10-13: 

Then  David  blessed  the  Lord  before  all  the  assembly,  and  David 
said,  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  our  Father,  for- 
ever and  ever.  Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness  and  the  power 
and  the  glory  and  the  victory  and  the  majesty;  for  of  all  that  is  in 
the  heavens  and  in  the  earth,  thine  is  the  Kingdom,  O  Lord,  and 
thou  art  exalted  as  King  over  all.  Both  riches  and  honor  come  of 
thee,  and  thou  rulest  over  all,  and  in  thine  hand  is  power  and 
might;  and  in  thine  hand  it  is  to  make  great  and  to  give  strength 
unto  all.  Now,  therefore,  our  God,  we  thank  thee  and  praise  thy 
glorious  name. 

This  passes  imperceptibly  into  Nehemiah's  address  (Neh. 
9:  6-1 1),  and  this  leads  to  the  last  two  verses  of  Exodus  14 


PSALMS  AND  BIBLE  ['ERSES  IN  THE  SERVICE        185 

(And  the  Lord  on  that  day  saved),  and  these  introduce 
the  great  song  of  triumph  after  the  crossing  of  the  Red 
Sea: 

(Ex.  15:  1-18).  The  last  verse  (The  Lord  shall  reign  forever  and 
ever)  is  followed  by  three  other  of  the  Kingdom  verses.  (Ps.  22: 
29):  For  the  Kingdom  is  of  the  Lord  and  he  ruleth  among  the 
nations.  (Obadiah,  21):  And  saviours  shall  go  up  on  Mount  Zion 
to  judge  the  Mount  of  Esau,  and  the  Kingdom  shall  be  the  Lord's. 
(Zech.  14:  9):  And  the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth,  on 
that  day  shall  the  Lord  be  one,  and  his  name  one. 

Then  follows  the  closing  "Benediction  of  Song;"  of  this 
hereafter. 

As  to  the  comparative  date  of  the  parts  which  make  up 
the  morning  hymns,  or  "musical  verses,"  we  have  seen  that 
Psalm  145  takes  the  first  rank;  Psalms  146-150,  or  at  least 
148  and  150,  come  next;  their  recital  can  be  traced  back  to 
the  Talmud,  perhaps  to  the  days  of  the  Mishna.6  Nearly 
the  same  rank  is  held  by  Psalm  100,  and  on  Sabbath  and 
Festivals  by  92  and  93.  The  scattering  twenty-two  verses 
are  the  latest  accretion.  The  long  piece  from  Chronicles 
and  the  Sabbath  hymns,  which  the  Sefardim  do  not  admit 
within  the  benedictions,  are  also  late  additions.  This  his- 
toric order  is  roughly  recognized  by  the  rules  found  in 
many  prayer  books  as  to  the  pieces  which  should  be  skipped 
by  one  who  comes  too  late  to  the  morning  service,  and 
wishes  to  catch  up  with  the  congregation. 

After  the  Amida  in  the  morning  or  afternoon  comes  the 
"supplication,"  or  penitential  Psalm.  It  is  6  with  the  Ger- 
mans, 25  with  the  Sefardim;  it  is  not  recited  on  Sabbaths, 
Festivals,  Middle  Days,  New  Moons,  Hanucca,  or  Purim, 
nor  in  the  Passover  month,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  on  the 
Ninth  of  Ab  and  a  few  other  clays  as  to  which  the  rit- 
uals differ,  nor  in  the  afternoon  before  Sabbaths  or  Festi- 
vals, nor  when  a  "bridegroom"  (a  man  who  has  married 
within  a  week)  is  in  the  Synagogue,  nor  when  a  circum- 


186      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

cision  takes  place  in  it.  Its  omission  carries  with  it  all  its 
later  accretions  and  all  the  plaintive  matter  written  for 
Mondays  and  Thursdays.7 

The  penitential  Psalm  is  followed  (mediately  or  imme- 
diately) by  these  verses: 

(2  Chron.  20:  12):  But  we  know  not  what  we  should  do;  for 
our  eyes  are  turned  to  thee.  (Ps.  25:  6):  Remember  thy  mercies, 
O  Lord,  and  thy  loving-kindness;  for  they  are  from  everlasting. 
(Ps.  33:  22):  May  thy  kindness  be  upon  us,  O  Lord,  as  we  have 
hoped  unto  thee.  (79:  8):  Do  not  remember  unto  us  the  iniquities 
of  the  forefathers;  let  thy  mercies  speedily  prevent  us;  for  we  are 
brought  very  low.  (123:  3):  Be  gracious  to  us,  O  Lord,  be 
gracious,  for  too  long  we  have  been  filled  with  contempt.  (Hab. 
3:  2):  In  anger  thou  art  mindful  of  mercy.  (Ps.  103:  14):  For  he 
knoweth  our  nature;  he  is  mindful  that  we  are  dust.  (79:  9): 
Help  us,  O  Lord,  for  the  sake  of  thy  glorious  name;  deliver  us 
and  cleanse  away  our  sins  for  thv  name's  sake.8 

On  Monday  and  Thursday  a  composition,  about  700 
Hebrew  words  in  length,  is  inserted  before  the  penitential 
Psalm,  full  of  bitter  complaints  for  the  sufferings  which 
Israel  undergoes  for  its  faith,  known  popularly  as  "long 
Vehu  Rahum,"  from  the  first  words  of  the  opening  verse, 
"And  he  is  merciful,  atoneth  sin."  A  story  ascribing  its 
authorship  to  three  shipwrecked  refugees  from  the  sack  of 
Jerusalem  or  of  Bethar  has  obscured  the  true  origin  of  this 
collection.  It  sets  out  with  Bible  verses,  some  as  they 
read  in  Scripture,  others  with  the  "I"  or  "thou"  of  the 
Psalmist  or  Prophet  turned  into  the  "we"  of  the  worship- 
pers. Thus  we  have  Ps.  78:  38;  40:  12;  106:  47;  130:  3,  4; 
103:  10;  Jer.  14:  7;  Ps.  25:  6;  20:  2,  10;  Dan.  9:  15-19; 
Tsa.  64:  7;  Joel  2:  17;  Deut.  9:  27;  Ex.  32:  12;  Dan.  9:  7; 
Lam.  3:  40;  Ps.  118:  25;  Isa.  64:  n. 

The  verses  drop  off  gradually  into  post-Biblical  matter. 
The  whole  is  hardly  fitted  to  express  the  feelings  of  Amer- 
ican Jews,  who  cannot  be  said  to  suffer  for  their  faith;  but 
a  short  poem  which,  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays,  is  recited 


PSALMS  AND  BIBLE  VERSES  IN  THE  SERVICE       187 

after  the  penitential  Psalms  utters  the  plaint  for  such  suffer- 
ings with  even  greater  bitterness. 

After  the  morning  Amida  and  after  these  "supplications," 
when  these  are  in  place,  comes  Half  Kaddish  on  work-days, 
a  full  Kaddish  on  days  requiring  a  Musaf  Prayer;  then 
(besides  the  lesson  from  the  scroll  and  whatever  goes  with 
it)  the  second  Ashrc.  Then  on  days  on  which  "supplications" 
are  made,  Psalm  20  ("The  Lord  will  answer  thee  in  time 
of  distress");  then  on  all  work-days  a  collection  of  verses 
from  Psalms,  Chronicles,  and  Prophets,  which,  though  not 
Talmudic,  is  very  old.  It  is  named  from  its  opening  words 
U-Ba  k-Tzion  (Isa.  59:  20,  21). 

A  redeemer  shall  come  to  Zion  and  to  them  that  turn  from  trans- 
gression in  Jacob,  saith  the  Lord.  And  as  for  me,  this  is  my 
covenant  with  them,  saith  the  Lord;  my  spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and 
my  words  which  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth  shall  not  depart  out  of 
thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth 
of  thy  seed's  seed,  says  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  and  forever. 
(Ps.  22:  4):  Thou  art  holy,  dwelling  in  the  praises  of  Israel. 
(Isa.  6:  3):  And  one  called  unto  the  other  and  said:  Holy,  holy, 
holy  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  full  is  the  whole  earth  of  his  glory. 
(Repeated  in  Aramaic  paraphrase).  (Ezek.  3:  12):  Then  the  spirit 
lifted  me  up,  and  I  heard  behind  me  the  sound  of  a  great  rushing: 
Blessed  be  the  glory  of  the  Lord  from  his  place  (Aramaic  para- 
phrase follows).  (Ex.  15:  18) :  The  Lord  will  reign  forever  and 
ever.  (Aramaic  version).  (Four  verses:  I  Chron.  29:  18;  Ps.  78: 
38;  86:  5;  119:  142).  (Micah  7:  20):  Thou  wilt  perform  the  truth 
to  Jacob  and  the  mercy  to  Abraham  which  thou  hast  sworn  unto 
our  fathers  from  the  days  of  old.  (Ps.  68:  20):  Blessed  be  the 
Lord  day  by  day;  God  heapeth  upon  us  our  salvation;  Selah. 
(Three  verses  Ps.  46:  12;  84:  13;  20:  10;  see  above). 

(After  two  non-Biblical  passages,  to  be  given  hereafter, 
proceed) : 

(Ps.  30:  13):  To  the  end  that  my  glory  may  sing  to  thee  and 
not  be  silent,  O  Lord  my  God,  I  will  give  thanks  to  thee  forever. 
[(Jer.  17:  7):  Blessed  is  the  man  who  trusteth  in  the  Lord,  and 
whose  hope  the  Lord  is.  (Isa.  26:  4) :  Trust  ye  in  the  Lord  for- 
ever; for  in  Jah,  the  Lord,  is  the  rock  of  ages.]  (Ps.  9:  n):  Yea, 


188      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

those  that  know  thy  name  will  trust  in  thee;  for  thou  hast  not  for- 
saken those  that  seek  thee,  O  Lord.  (Isa.  42:  21):  It  pleased  the 
Lord  for  his  righteousness'  sake  to  magnify  the  Law  and  make  it 
honorable. 

The  Sefardim  omit  two  verses  from  the  Prophets  and  sub- 
stitute two  Psalm  verses.  The  ground  for  inserting  this 
mosaic  given  by  the  old  writers  is  that  late  visitors  at  the 
Synagogue  may  still  have  an  opportunity  to  say  the  Thrice- 
Holy  in  company. 

This  brings  us  near  the  end  of  the  morning  service.  At 
or  very  near  its  conclusion  the  Psalm  is  read  which  was 
sung  on  that  day  of  the  week  in  the  Temple,  the  24th  on 
Sunday,  on  Monday  the  48th,  on  the  following  days,  82,  94, 
81,  93,  and  on  the  Sabbath  92.** 

From  work  time  on  Friday  to  the  sacred  rest  on  the  night 
of  Sabbath  we  are  led  by  six  Psalms,  95-99,  "Come,  let  us 
sing  to  the  Lord,"  and  29,  which  closes  "with  peace,"  a 
poem  addressed  to  the  Bride  Sabbath,  and  Psalm  92,  with 
the  opening  words  of  which  each  worshipper  enters  the 
sacred  day;  to  this  Ps.  93  is  a  pendant.  What  precedes  92 
and  thus  precedes  the  Sabbath  is  now  called  its  "reception." 
The  Psalms  and  the  poem  have  been  set  to  numberless  airs 
of  both  old  and  new  style,  and  seem  inseparable  from  the 
genuine  Friday  evening.  Yet  their  use  is  modern.  Not 
only  Abudraham  early  in  the  fourteenth  century,  but  R. 
Joseph  Karo,  writing  his  Code  in  the  sixteenth,  knows 
nothing  about  them,  but  they  speak  of  a  man  "receiving" 
the  Sabbath  in  his  evening  Prayer;  that  is,  when  it  is  already 
upon  us.  The  poem  of  Solomon  the  Levite  (Alkabets)  in 
which  he  sings  to  the  Bride  has  gathered  round  it  all  these 
Psalms  for  her  reception.10 

( )n  all  afternoons  the  service  begins  with  Ashre,  then 
on  Sabbaths  or  Festivals  the  verses  and  prayers  beginning 
"A  redeemer  will  come  to  Zion,"  which  have  been  omitted 
in  the  morning;  then  a  Half  Kaddish,  and  on  the  Sabbath 
this  Psalm  verse  (69:  14): 


PSALMS  AND  BIBLE  VERSES  IN  THE  SERVICE        189 

"But  as  for  me,  my  prayer  is  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  in  an  accept- 
able time;  O  God,  in  thy  manifold  mercy,  answer  me  in  the  truth 
of  thy  salvation." 

After  the  Sabbath  afternoon  Prayer  come  the  following 
three  Psalm  verses  (unless  there  is  besides  the  Sabbath 
some  occasion  for  gladness): 

(Ps.  119:  142):  Thy  righteousness  is  everlasting  righteousness, 
and  thy  Law  is  truth.  (71 :  19) :  Thy  righteousness,  O  God,  is  very 
high,  thou  who  hast  done  great  things,  O  God,  who  is  like  unto 
thee.  (36:  7):  Thy  righteousness  is  like  the  mountains  of  God; 
thy  judgments  as  the  mighty  deep;  thou  preservest  man  and 
beast,  O  Lord."11 

In  winter  on  Sabbath  afternoons,  Psalm  104,  that  pen 
picture  of  moving  and  living  nature,  and  the  fifteen  Songs 
of  Degrees  (Ps.  120-134)  are  read,  more  as  a  private  devo- 
tion than  as  part  of  the  service.  The  Sefardim  substitute  Ps. 
119  for  104.  When  it  becomes  dark,  friends  at  the  Syna- 
gogue or  at  home  chant  together  Psalms  144  and  67;  the 
former  speaks  of  health,  plenty,  and  peace;  the  latter  calls 
on  all  nations  to  thank  God  with  us  for  his  blessings,  so  that 
the  Sabbath  may  leave  a  good  taste.  The  iO4th  Psalm  is, 
however,  solemnly  chanted  by  the  Sefardim  in  opening  the 
evening  service  on  New  Moons.12 

On  ordinary  evenings,  including  Saturday  night  (and  as 
late  as  the  fourteenth  century  on  the  nights  of  Sabbaths 
and  Festivals  as  well),  the  following  two  verses  are  spoken 
before  the  first  benediction  or  in  public  before  the  leader's 
address: 

(Ps.  78:  38):  "He  is  merciful,  atoneth  iniquity;  and  will  not 
destroy,  and  will  often  turn  back  his  wrath;  and  will  not  arouse 
all  his  anger.  (Ps.  20:  10) :  O  Lord,  save;  the  King  will  answer 
when  we  call."13 

But  when  the  evening  service  is  held  "in  its  season,"  that 
is,  after  night-fall,  and  disconnected  from  the  afternoon 


IQO       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Prayer,  it  is  introduced  by  Psalm  134  ("Bless  the  Lord,  all 
ye  servants  of  the  Lord,  who  stand  in  the  Lord's  house  by 
night,"  and  the  three  verses  before  mentioned  (Ps.  46:  12; 
84:  13;  20:  10),  which  make  a  sufficient  basis  for  a  "Half 
Kaddish;"  and  such  a  service  is  closed  with  Psalms  24,  8, 
and  29  as  a  basis  for  a  Mourners'  Kaddish.14 

We  have  spoken  of  a  third  benediction  which  has  come 
into  use  among  all  "Germans"  in  the  work-day  evening 
service.  It  is  introduced  by  the  following  Bible  verses, 
the  doxologies  already  mentioned,  Ps.  89:  53;  106:  48;  72: 
18,  19.  Then: 

(Ps.  104:  31):  Let  the  glory  of  the  Lord  endure  forever;  the 
Lord  rejoiceth  in  his  works.  (Ps.  113:  2):  Let  the  name  of  the 
Lord  be  blessed  from  henceforth  and  for  evermore,  (i  Sam.  12: 
22) :  For  the  Lord  will  not  forsake  his  people  for  his  great  name's 
sake;  for  it  has  pleased  the  Lord  to  make  you  his  people,  (i  Kings 
18:  39):  And  the  whole  people  saw  it  and  fell  on  their  faces  and 
said:  "The  Lord  is  the  God;  the  Lord  is  the  God."  (Zech.  14:  9): 
The  Lord  will  be  King  over  all  the  earth;  in  that  day  shall  the  Lord 
be  one,  and  his  name  one.  (Ps.  33:  22):  May  thy  mercy  be  upon 
us,  as  we  have  hoped  in  thee.  (Ps.  106:  47).  Save  us,  O  Lord,  our 
God,  and  gather  us  from  the  nations,  to  give  thanks  to  thy  holy 
name  and  to  triumph  in  thy  praise.  (86:  9):  All  nations  whom 
thou  hast  made  shall  come  and  worship  before  thee,  O  Lord,  and 
give  honor  to  thy  name.  (Ps.  86:  10) :  For  thou  art  great, 
and  doest  wonders,  thou,  O  God,  alone.  (79:  13):  And  we  are 
thy  people  and  the  sheep  of  thy  pasture;  we  will  thank  thee  for 
evermore;  from  generation  to  generation  we  shall  tell  thy  praise. 

In  analogy  to  the  above  verses  in  the  evening  service  for 
work-days,  other  verses  have  come  into  use  for  the  nights 
of  Sabbath  and  Festivals  without  any  Talmudic  authority. 
For  Friday  night: 

(Ex.  31:  1 6,  17):  The  children  of  Israel  shall  keep  the  Sabbath, 
to  observe  the  Sabbath  throughout  their  generations,  for  a  per- 
petual covenant.  It  is  a  sign  between  me  and  the  children  of  Israel 
forever,  that  the  Lord  in  six  days  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
and  on  the  seventh  day  rested  and  was  refreshed. 


PSALMS  AND  BIBLE  VERSES  IN  THE  SERVICE        191 

On  the  evenings  of  three  festivals  of  joy  in  the  German 
ritual : 

(Lev.  23:  44):  "And  Moses  declared  to  the  children  of  Israel  the 
set  times  of  the  Lord." 

While  the  Sefardim  say: 

(Lev.  23:  4):  "These  are  the  set  times  of  the  Lord,  holy  con- 
vocations, which  ye  shall  proclaim  in  their  season." 

On  New  Year's  night  in  the  German  ritual: 

(Ps.  81:  4):  "Blow  ye  the  horn  on  the  new  moon,  the  darken- 
ing, the  day  of  our  feast;  for  it  is  an  ordinance  to  Israel;  a  judg- 
ment of  the  God  of  Jacob." 

The  Sefardim  say  on  the  same  occasion: 

(Numbers  10:  10):  On  the  day  of  your  gladness,  and  at  your  set 
times,  and  on  your  new  moons,  ye  shall  blow  the  trumpets  upon 
your  burnt  offerings  and  upon  your  peace  offerings,  and  it  shall 
be  to  you  for  a  memorial  before  the  Lord  your  God;  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God. 

On  the  Atonement  night  both  rituals  have  here: 

(Lev.  16:  30):  For  on  this  day  he  will  atone  for  you,  to  cleanse 
you  from  all  your  sins;  before  the  Lord  ye  shall  be  clean. 

On  Saturday  night  after  the  Amitla  and  Half  Kaddish 
(unless  a  Festival  falls  within  the  coming  week)  Ps.  91  is 
spoken,  preceded  by  the  last  verse  of  Ps.  90: 

"Let  the  pleasantness  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us,  and 
establish  thou  for  us  the  work  of  our  hands;  yea,  the  work  of  our 
hands  establish  thou  it." 

Then  the  collection  given  above  ("A  redeemer  will  come 
to  Zion")  is  recited,  leaving  off,  however,  the  first  two 
verses,  so  as  to  begin  "Thou  art  holy;"  then  the  full  Kad- 
dish. Then  follows  a  collection  of  blessings  and  happy 
prophecies,  the  two  blessings  Isaac  bestows  on  Jacob,  Gen. 
27:  28,  29,  and  28:  3,  4;  Jacob  blessing  Joseph,  Gen.  49: 


IQ2       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

25,  26;  Moses  the  people,  Deut.  7:  13,  14,  15.  (Blessing 
on  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  Gen.  48:  16;  on  the  people, 
Deut.  i:  10,  n.)  Blessings  and  predictions  of  good,  Deut. 
27:  3-6;  27:  8,  12;  15:  6;  33:  29.  (Forgiveness  and  redemp- 
tion, Isa.  44:  22,  23;  47:  4.)  Joy  over  God's  help,  Isa.  45: 
17;  Joel  2:  26,  27;  Isa.  55:  12;  12:  2-6;  25:  9.  (Isa.  2:  5; 
33:  6;  i  Sam.  18:  14;  on  redeeming,  Ps.  55:  19;  I  Sam.  14: 
45;  Isa.  35:  10.)  (On  turning  evil  into  good,  Ps.  30:  12; 
Deut.  23:  6;  Jer.  31:  12.)  On  peace,  Isa.  57:  19;  i  Chr.  12: 
19;  i  Sam.  25:  6;  Ps.  29:  n.  (A  Talmudic  passage,  then 
words  of  comfort,  i  Kings  8:  57;  Deut.  4:  4;  Isa.  51:  3; 
42:  21.  Lastly  Ps.  128,  a  eulogy  on  the  hard-working 
breadwinner,  for  the  week  of  toil  now  begins.) 

The  parts  in  parentheses  belong  only  to  the  Polish  branch 
of  the  German  ritual. 

Other  Psalms  and  poetic  verses  will  be  referred  to  in  con- 
nection with  the  reading  of  the  Pentateuch  lesson;  others 
again,  in  connection  with  the  meal  or  retirement  to  bed. 
For  want  of  space  we  cannot  treat  of  the  verses  which  are 
intermingled  with  the  Selihoth,  or  poetry  on  forgiveness, 
mentioned  in  Chapter  XII. 

Many  devout  men  and  women  read  the  whole  Psalter 
through  once  a  month,  or  even  once  a  week,  according 
to  divisions  made  for  that  puqoose.  In  many  Synagogues 
the  whole  Psalter  is  read  on  the  afternoon  of  the  first 
New  Year's  day  or  on  the  night  of  Atonement.  It  is  also 
the  second  part  of  the  exercises  in  "staying  up"  in  the 
night  of  Hoshana  Rabba,  the  reading  of  Deuteronomy 
being  the  first  part.  Verses  from  the  Psalms  or  other  parts 
of  Scripture  that  are  quoted  in  non-Biblical  prayers,  or 
intertwined  with  them,  are  treated  with  the  latter. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

STUDY   AS    TART    OF   THE    LITURGY 

THE  words  in  the  second  benediction  of  the  evening,  "In 
thy  law  we  breathe  by  day  and  by  night,"  are  not  meant 
as  a  figure  of  speech.  He  who  learned  and  taught  the 
written  and  oral  law,  and  placed  this  occupation  above  all 
earthly  joys  and  hopes,  was  the  ideal  to  the  men  who  have, 
in  the  course  of  two  thousand  years,  elaborated  the  service 
book,  as  he  was  to  the  author  of  the  176  verses  of  the  iiQth 
Psalm. 

Many  loyal  and  well-meaning  Jews  were  disabled  by 
poverty,  lack  of  teachers,  or  lack  of  talent  and  taste  from 
deeper  study.  To  these  it  was  thought  good  to  furnish  a 
minimum;  they  might  acquire  a  substitute  for  real  learning. 

The  Shema  contains  the  weightiest  matter,  but  its  recital 
is  separately  commanded,  aside  from  the  general  duty  to 
learn  and  remember  the  Law.1  Hence  the  sages  of  Israel 
placed  in  the  service  book,  to  be  read  every  day  or  at  stated 
times,  other  passages  from  the  Tora  and  some  Mishna  and 
Bara'itha,  so  that  everybody  should  do  some  studying. 

The  first  choice  was  made  of  such  passages,  one  from 
each  of  the  sources,  which  were  put  in  the  early  morning 
service  after  the  benediction  on  rising  and  dressing,  but 
before  the  Psalms  and  hymns:  from  the  Tora  the  section 
from  Numbers  28,  on  the  daily  sacrifice,  the  verses  for  Sab- 
bath and  New  Moon  to  be  also  read  on  those  days;  from 
the  Mishna,  a  chapter  on  the  place  of  the  several  kinds  of 
sacrifice  in  the  Temple,  and  the  distinctions  in  offering  and 
eating.2  Thus  the  worshipper,  while  dutifully  studying, 
would  also  make  mention  of  the  daily  oblations,  the  next 
13  (193) 


194       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

best  thing  to  bringing  them.  For  the  uncodified  oral  Law, 
or  Baraitha,  R.  Ishmael's  account  of  the  thirteen  rules  for 
expounding  the  Tora  was  given  as  a  fit  sample.  The  first 
two  rules  are  easily  understood  and  remembered,  "to 
reason  i,  from  the  lesser  to  the  greater;  2,  by  judgment  on 
like  words;"  the  other  eleven  are  rather  abstruse.3 

But  these  passages  are  long,  dry,  and  undevotional; 
something  short  was  needed,  something  to  go  to  the  heart. 
In  a  note  written  late  in  the  twelfth  century  we  come  across 
the  new  selections,  now  in  daily  use.4  Three  verses  from 
the  Law  are  wanted;  none  are  finer  than  the  priestly  bless- 
ing; better  yet  the  whole  section  of  six  verses  which  em- 
braces it,  the  command  to  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  impart 
it,  and  the  promise,  "they  will  set  my  name  on  the  children 
of  Israel  and  I  will  bless  them."5  From  the  Mishna  this 
section: 

These  things  .have  no  (prescribed)  measure:  The  field  corner, 
the  first  fruits,  the  appearance-offering  (on  the  Festivals),  and 
charity  and  the  study  of  the  Law. 

These  are  the  things  of  which  man  eats  the  fruits  in  this  world, 
but  the  capital  remains  for  the  world  to  come;  these  they  are: 
honoring  father  and  mother,  and  charity,  and  going  early  to  the 
house  of  study  in  the  morning  and  evening,  and  housing  travellers, 
and  visiting  the  sick,  and  endowing  the  bride,  and  devotion  in 
prayer,  and  escorting  the  dead,  and  bringing  about  peace  between 
man  and  man;  and  against  all  of  these  (stands  out)  the  study  of  the 
Law." 

Here  we  have  a  daily  confession  that  a  good  and  noble 
life  finds  its  reward  here  and  hereafter.  Thousands  who 
drop  or  shir  over  the  three  longer  passages  recite  these 
short  ones  immediately  after  the  benedictions  over  the  duty 
of  studying  the  Law,  which  run  thus: 

Blessed  be  thou,  C)  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  has 
sanctified  us  with  his  commandments  and  commanded  us  to  be 
busy  with  the  words  of  the  Law.  O  Lord  our  God,  make  the 
words  of  thy  Law  pleasant  in  our  mouth;  and  may  we  and  our 
children,  and  late  descendants,  and  all  the  descendants  of  thy 


S TUD Y  AS  PART  OF  THK  L ITUR GY  195 

people,  the  House  of  Israel,  all  of  us  know  thy  name,  and  learn 
thy  Law  for  its  own  sake;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  teacheth 
the  Law  to  his  people  Israel.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God, 
King  of  the  world,  who  hath  chosen  us  from  all  the  nations  and 
given- us  his  Law;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  Giver  of  the  Law. 

The  latter  of  these  two  benedictions  is  the  same  which 
is  recited  at  the  reading  desk  before  the  open  scroll;  it 
renders  thanks  for  the  written  law;  the  first  acknowledges 
the  honorable  but  laborious  task  of  studying  the  traditions 
and  of  searching  the  Scriptures.7 

So  much  for  every  day.  On  the  Sabbath  and  Festivals 
after  the  "Additional"  three  other  Talmudic  passages  fol- 
low the  introductory  line,  "Thou  art  he  before  whom  our 
fathers  burn  the  incense  of  sweet  odors."  First,  a  Baraitha 
which  sets  forth  by  weight  and  measure  the  composition  of 
this  incense;  next,  a  section  of  the  Mishna,  which  gives  the 
Psalm  for  each  day  as  the  Levites  sang  it  on  the  steps  of 
the  Temple,  not  by  the  numbers  of  the  Psalms,  but  by  their 
first  verses;8  third,  the  following  eulogy  on  the  men  of 
learning: 

Rabbi  Eleazar  says,  said  Rabbi  Hanina,  the  disciples  of  the 
Wise  further  peace  in  the  world,  as  it  is  written:  For  all  thy  sons 
are  disciples  of  the  Lord;  and  much  is  the  peace  of  thy  sons. 
(Isa.  54:  13):  Do  not  read  Thy  Sons  (Banai'ch),  but  Those  That 
Build  Thee  (Bonaich).  There  is  much  peace  for  those  who  love 
thy  Law;  and  they  find  no  stumbling  block.  For  the  sake  of  my 
brothers  and  friends,  may  I  speak  peacefully  to  thee;  for  the  sake 
of  the  Lord,  our  God,  may  I  seek  happiness  for  thee.  The  Lord 
giveth  strength  to  His  people;  may  the  Lord  bless  His  people  with 
peace.9 

On  Friday  night  a  chapter  of  the  Mishna  is  read  (by  the 
Sefardim  before  the  regular  evening  service  begins,  by  the 
Germans  near  its  end),  which  deals  with  the  Friday  night 
lamp  and  other  laws  of  the  Sabbath.10  The  above  saying 
of  R.  Eleazar  and  R.  Hanina  is  added,  so  that  this  lesson 
also  ends  with  peace. 


196       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  chapter  on  the  place  of  sacrifice,  the  thirteen  rules, 
the  discourse  on  the  Sabbath  lights,  and  the  mixture  of 
spices,  are  always  among  the  things  dropped  first  when- 
ever a  progressive  congregation  takes  any  liberties  .with 
the  old  service  book.  Most  important  among  the  longer 
Talmudic  passages  is  the  Treatise  Aboth,  in  five  chapters, 
to  which  a  sixth  chapter  of  similar  strain  was  added  at  a 
later  but  unknown  time;  the  six  being  found  in  every  old- 
fashioned  prayer  book.11  At  present  the  Sefardic  Jews 
read  one  chapter  on  each  of  the  six  Sabbaths  between  Pass- 
over and  Pentecost,  but  the  Jews  of  the  German  Minhag 
not  only  do  this,  but  go  over  the  whole  again  and  again, 
to  the  last  Sabbath  before  New  Year.  The  Treatise  is 
known  in  English  as  the  Ethics.12  The  chapters  are  not 
chanted  by  the  leader;  any  man  or  woman  reads  a  chapter 
either  at  home  or  in  the  Synagogue  before  or  after  the 
afternoon  service. 

At  the  house  of  mourning  and  on  anniversaries,  or  when- 
ever ten  Jews,  gathered  for  the  common  worship  of  God, 
wish  to  "learn,"  a  few  sections  from  one  of  these  chapters 
are  ready  to  hand.  Children  whose  training  does  not  pass 
beyond  the  Prayer  Book  and  Pentateuch  are  set  to  study 
the  Ethics,  and  thus  whatever  knowledge  the  unlearned 
Jew  has  of  the  Mishna  is  drawn  from  this  source. 

These  comforting  words  are  read  before  each  chapter: 

All  Israel  has  a  share  in  the  world  to  come,  as  it  is  said  (Isa. 
60:  21):  And  thy  people,  all  of  them  righteous,  shall  forever  inherit 
the  land  (?  earth),  the  young  tree  of  my  planting,  the  work  of  my 
hands,  that  I  may  be  glorified.13 

After  each  chapter  or  any  selection  from  the  Ethics  the 
following  is  read: 

U.  Hananiah  ben  Akashiah  said:  The  Holy  One,  blessed  be 
he,  was  pleased  to  give  Israel  merit;  therefore  he  multiplied  for 
them  Law  and  commandments,  as  it  is  said  (Isa.  42:  21):  It 


5 TVD  Y  AS  PA RT  OF  THE  T.ITURG  Y  1 97 

pleased  the   Lord  for  his   righteousness'   sake   to   make   the   Law 
great  and  honorable.14 

The  Treatise  Aboth,  unlike  most  other  treatises  in  the 
Mishna,  does  not  deal  with  some  branch  of  jurisprudence, 
polity,  or  ritual  law,  nor  does  it  lay  down  any  rules  of  con- 
duct by  the  authority  of  the  greater  number  or  of  the  pre- 
vailing- party  among  the  learned.  It  reports  the  opinions 
of  the  "Fathers,"  that  is,  of  individual  Rabbis  from  the 
days  of  the  Great  Synod  down  to  the  sons  of  Rabbi  Judah, 
the  Patriarch,  on  points  of  morals,  faith,  and  occasionally 
of  worldly  wisdom. 

The  first  chapter  brings  down  the  chain  of  tradition  from 
Moses,  Joshua,  the  Elders  (or  Judges),  and  Prophets  to  the 
men  of  the  Great  Synod;  from  the  last  of  them,  Simeon  the 
Just,  to  his  disciple  Antigonus,  from  the  latter's  disciples  to 
the  five  "couples,"  that  is,  the  successive  Presidents  and 
Vice-Presidents  of  the  Sanhedrin,  including  Hillel  and 
Shammai,  contemporaries  of  Herod  the  Great;  then  it 
names  Rabban  Gamaliel,  who  was  a  late  descendant  of 
Hillel,  and  his  son  Rabban  Simeon,  the  Patriarchs  of  their 
day;  and  it  credits  each  with  one  or  more  favorite  sayings. 
Some  of  these  refer  to  the  duties  of  the  judge  alone;  but 
"always  judge  every  man  for  the  best"  (literally,  towards 
the  scale  of  innocence)  is  intended  for  daily  life.  Great  are 
Hillel's  words,  "Who  pushes  his  name  forward,  his  name  is 
lost;  he  who  does  not  add  (to  his  knowledge)  loses,  and 
he  who  does  not  teach,  deserves  to  be  killed;  and  let  him 
who  makes  gain  of  the  crown  (religious  learning)  perish!" 
Also,  "If  I  am  not  for  myself,  who  is  for  me!  if  I  am  for 
myself,  what  am  I?"  Shammai  says,  "Say  little  and  do 
much,  and  receive  everybody  with  a  pleasant  face." 

The  second  chapter  begins  with  Rabbi  (i.  e.,  Judah),  and 
tl.e  Patriarch  Gamaliel, his  son, but  then  goes  back  to  earlier 
teachers  as  far  as  Hillel.  Its  gems  are,  "Study  of  the  law  is 
best  when  combined  with  secular  work;  for  in  the  fatigue 


1 98       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

over  both  we  forget  sin."  Or,  among  Hillel's  sayings,  "Do 
not  believe  in  thyself  till  the  day  of  thy  death;  and  do  not 
judge  thy  neighbor  till  thou  hast  come  into  his  position." 
Again,  "The  bashful  cannot  learn,  nor  the  impatient  man 
teach."  Seeing  a  skull  floating  in  the  water  he  said,  "Be- 
cause thou  didst  drown  thou  wast  drowned;  and  those  that 
drowned  thee  will  be  drowned."  Rabbi  Eliezer  says,  "Re- 
turn one  day  before  thy  death."  Rabbi  Simeon  says,  "When 
thou  prayest,  do  not  make  thy  prayer  a  fixed  task,  but 
mercy  and  supplication  before  God;  for  it  is  said:  For  he 
is  gracious  and  merciful,  even  long-suffering,  and  bethinks 
himself  upon  the  evil."  Rabbi  Eleazar  says,  "Be  watchful 
to  learn  the  Law  and  know  how  to  answer  the  infidel"  (liter- 
ally, Epicurus).  Rabbi  Tarphon  (Tryphon)  says,  "Know, 
the  reward  of  the  righteous  is  given  in  the  world  to  come." 

The  third  chapter  delights  in  an  antithetic  style. 

Says  R.  Hanina  ben  Teradion,  "When  two  men  sit  to- 
gether with  no  talk  of  the  Law  between  them,  that  is  the 
seat  of  the  scoffers,  of  which  Scripture  says:  He  does  not 
sit  in  the  seat  of  scoffers.  But  two  who  sit  down  and  talk 
words  of  the  Law,  the  presence  of  God  (Shechind)  is  poured 
out  between  them,  as  it  is  written:  Then  those  that  feared 
the  Lord  spoke  to  each  other,  and  the  Lord  listened  and 
heard,  and  it  was  written  down  in  the  book  of  remembrance 
before  him,  for  those  who  fear  the  Lord  and  think  of  his 
name."  R.  Simeon  follows  with  a  parallel  as  to  three  who 
eat  at  one  table  and  do  or  do  not  speak  "words  of  the  Law." 
And  another  Rabbi  sets  forth  the  merits  of  ten,  of  five,  of 
three,  of  two,  who  study  together,  and  at  last  of  one  by  him- 
self, having  for  each  number  a  verse  by  way  of  proof,  wind- 
ing up,  "In  every  place  where  I  make  mention  of  my  name, 
1  will  come  unto  thee  and  bless  thee."  The  saintly  R. 
Hanina  ben  Dosa  says,  "Whose  fear  of  sin  precedes  his 
learning,  that  man's  learning  will  stand;  but  if  his  learning 
precedes  his  fear  of  sin  (religious  feeling),  it  will  not  stand. 
Whose  good  works  are  greater  than  his  learning,  that 


STUDY  AS  PART  OF  THE  LITURGY  199 

man's  learning  will  stand,"  etc.  R.  Eleazar  ben  Azariah, 
one  of  the  Patriarchs,  enlarges  on  this  by  comparing  the 
man  whose  learning  exceeds  his  good  works  with  a  tree  of 
few  roots  and  many  branches,  which  the  first  storm  will 
tear  from  the  ground  and  overthrow;  the  man  of  more  good 
works  than  learning,  with  a  tree  of  widespread  roots  and 
few  branches  that  will  withstand  all  the  winds  in  the  world 
unmoved,  and  quotes  for  each  of  them  one  of  the  beautiful 
and  well-known  verses  in  the  I7th  chapter  of  Jeremiah. 

The  fourth  chapter  sets  out  with  Ben  Zoma's  rules/' Who 
is  wise?  he  who  learns  from  everybody;  who  is  mighty?  he 
who  represses  his  passions,  as  it  is  written:  The  long-suf- 
fering man  is  better  than  the  mighty,  and  he  who  rules  over 
his  own  spirit,  than  one  who  takes  a  city;  who  is  rich?  he 
who  is  glad  with  his  portion,  as  it  is  written:  When  thou 
eatest  of  the  labor  of  thy  hand  thou  art  happy,  arid  it  goes 
well  with  thee.  Happy  (he  adds)  in  this  world,  and  it  goes 
well  with  thee  in  the  world  to  come."  Rabbi  Jannai  says, 
"We  have  no  means  to  understand  either  the  happiness  of 
the  wicked  or  the  sufferings  which  befall  the  just."  An 
otherwise  unknown  R.  Mathia  says,  "Be  a  tail  to  the  lions 
rather  than  a  head  to  the  foxes."  R.  Jacob  says,  "This 
world  is  like  a  vestibule  before  the  next  world;  prepare 
thyself  in  the  vestibule,  that  thou  mayest  enter  the  banquet 
hall"  (triclinium).  R.  Me'ir  says,  "Do  not  look  at  the  jar, 
but  at  what  there  is  in  it;  there  is  many  a  new  jar  full  of  old 
wine,  and  old  jars  that  hold  not  even  new  wine"  (old  men 
wholly  ignorant). 

The  fifth  chapter  is  almost  throughout  arranged  by  num- 
bers. First  the  number  ten:  the  generations  from  Adam 
to  Noah;  from  Noah  to  Abraham;  ten  temptations  of 
Abraham,  the  ten  plagues  of  Egypt,  ten  at  the  Red  Sea,  ten 
times  the  Israelites  tempted  God  in  the  wilderness,  ten 
wonderful  things  bordering  on  the  miraculous  were  noticed 
in  the  Temple.  But  the  most  noteworthy  decade  comes 
last,  "Ten  things  were  created  on  the  eve  of  Sabbath  dur- 


200       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ing  the  twilight,  namely,  the  mouth  of  the  earth  (which 
swallowed  Korah),  the  mouth  of  the  well  (from  which  the 
Israelites  drank  in  the  wilderness),  the  mouth  of  (Balaam's) 
ass,  the  rainbow,  the  Manna,  the  rod  (of  Moses),  the  Shamir 
(an  insect  said  to  have  been  used  in  cutting  the  stones  for 
Solomon's  Temple),  the  alphabet,  and  the  writing  (on  the 
tables),  and  the  tables  (of  the  covenant)."  Here  is  an  evi- 
dent effort  to  reconcile  the  belief  in  the  miracles  of  Scrip- 
ture with  the  orderly  progress  of  the  world  according  to 
laws  implanted  in  it  from  the  beginning;  on  the  same  lines 
as  that  of  Babbage,  the  inventor  of  the  calculating  machine, 
in  this  nineteenth  century.  Next  come  sevens;  the  first 
and  best  known  is: 

Seven  things  are  known  in  the  stupid  fellow  and  seven  in  the 
wise  man:  the  wise  man  has  nothing  to  say  in  presence  of  one  who 
is  more  learned  and  has  a  greater  following;  and  he  does  not 
interrupt  the  words  of  another;  and  is  not  overhasty  in  answering; 
he  asks  according  to  the  subject-matter;  and  answers  (questions 
of  religion)  according  to  the  established  Law  (not  what  he  thinks 
ought  to  be  the  Law) ;  and  speaks  of  things  in  their  order  from 
first  to  last;  and  of  what  he  has  not  heard,  he  says.  I  have  not  heard 
it,  and  he  admits  the  truth;  and  the  opposite  to  all  these  denote  the 
stupid  fellow. 

After  the  sevens  come  the  fours,  of  which  the  following 
is  the  best  example: 

There  are  four  qualities  in  giving  alms:  One  who  is  willing 
to  give,  but  does  not  wish  others  to  give,  he  begrudges  the  wealth 
of  others;  willing  that  others  shall  give,  but  unwilling  himself  to 
give,  he  begrudges  his  own;  willing  to  give,  and  that  others  give, 
is  pious:  unwilling  to  give,  or  for  others  to  give,  is  wicked. 

After  a  short  prayer,  which  originally  marked  the  end 
of  the  chapter  and  treatise,  we  find: 

Bon  He-He  (qnccre:  the  son  of  Hillel  the  Great)  used  to  say: 
According  to  the  trouble  is  the  reward.  He  also  said:  One  five 
years  old  should  begin  to  read  (the  Bible),  at  ten  years,  study 


STUD  Y  A S  PA K  T  OF  THE  LITURG  Y  2O I 

the  Mishna,  at  fifteen  years,  Gemara  (that  is,  discussion  on  the 
Oral  Law);  at  eighteen,  he  is  ready  for  the  bridal  chamber;  at 
twenty  to  pursue  (his  trade);  at  thirty,  he  is  in  his  strength;  at 
forty,  he  reaches  understanding;  at  fifty,  he  reaches  wisdom;  at 
sixty,  old  age;  at  seventy,  the  hoary  head;  at  eighty,  might  (cmp. 
Ps.  90:  10);  at  ninety,  to  bend  down  low;  at  one  hundred,  as  if  he 
were  dead,  and  had  passed  from  the  world. 

The  sixth  chapter  was  compiled  probably  after  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Talmud  as  a  supplement  to  these  five  chap- 
ters. It  is  weaker  than  the  Treatise  Aboth,  and  made  up 
mainly  of  praises  of  the  Tora  and  of  those  who  study  it. 
Among  the  forty-eight  qualities,  efforts,  and  habits  by 
which  the  crown  of  the  Tora  must  be  acquired,  the  last  is: 

One  must  tell  everything  in  the  name  of  him  who  said  it  before 
him;  for  we  learn  from  Scripture,  that  one  who  says  a  thing,  giving 
the  proper  credit,  brings  salvation  into  the  world;  for  it  is  written 
(Esther  2:  22):  "Esther  told  the  King  in  the  name  of  Mordecai." 

We  may  lastly  mention  a  highly  interesting  passage  from 
the  Babylonian  Talmud,  which  in  the  Polish  ritual  is  recited 
on  Saturday  nights: 

R.  Johanan  says:  At  every  place  where  thou  findest  the  great- 
ness of  God,  thou  wilt  also  find  his  condescension.  This  is  written 
in  the  Law,  repeated  in  the  Prophets,  and  put  for  the  third  time  in 
the  Holy  Writings.  First  in  the  Law:  For  the  Lord,  your  God, 
he  is  the  God  of  gods,  and  the  Lord  of  lords,  the  great,  the 
mighty,  and  the  fearful  God,  who  does  not  respect  persons,  and 
who  takes  no  bribes.  And  right  thereafter  it  is  written:  He 
worketh  the  cause  of  the  fatherless  and  of  the  widow,  and  loveth 
the  stranger,  to  give  him  bread  and  raiment.  Repeated  in  the 
Prophets,  where  it  is  written:  For  thus  saith  he  who  is  high  and 
exalted,  who  dwelleth  eternally,  and  whose  name  is  holy:  I  dwell 
on  high  and  holy;  also  with  the  contrite  and  the  humble  in  spirit; 
to  quicken  the  spirit  of  the  lowly  and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the 
contrite.  Thirdly,  it  is  written  in  the  Holy  Writings:  Sing  unto 
God,  play  on  strings  to  his  name;  make  a  road  to  him  who  rides 
through  the  spaces;  in  his  name,  the  Lord;  and  shout  ye  before 
him.  And  right  thereafter:  A  father  of  the  fatherless  "and  the 
judge  of  the  widows  is  God  in  his  holy  dwelling.15 


202        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Other  selections  from  the  Mishna  in  the  service  books 
are  of  less  import.  TheTikkun,  or  Arrangement,  for  the  first 
night  of  Pentecost  contains  the  first  and  last  section  in  each 
treatise  of  the  Mishna.  This  is  read  in  a  perfunctory  way, 
and  has  done  little  if  anything  towards  the  spread  of  Rab- 
binic learning.  The  Sefardic  Prayer  Book  used  in  the  East 
contains  the  Treatise  Rosh  Hashana  as  a  proper  reading 
for  the  supper  table  on  the  first  night  of  the  New  Year; 
lastly,  it  is  usual  for  men  of  learned  tastes  to  take  the  Mish- 
nic  Treatise  Joma  to  the  Synagogue  on  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment and  to  read  it  rather  than  take  part  in  the  recital  of 
the  less  attractive  "poetries." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  LESSER  AND  THE  DOUBTFUL  BENEDICTIONS 

A  PASSAGE  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  given  in  the 
names  of  the  Rabbis  who  flourished  early  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, sets  out  the  different  benedictions  which  the  Israelite 
ought  to  recite,  when  he  rises  in  the  morning,  thanking  God 
for  each  of  the  several  operations  which  lead  from  sleep  to 
the  work  of  the  day.  Considering  that  it  was  thought 
improper  to  pronounce  God's  name  before  washing  hands 
and  face,  these  words  cannot  be  suited  to  the  act;  all  must 
wait  for  the  morning  ablution;  the  present  custom  for  those 
who  attend  the  Synagogue  each  morning  is  to  recite  them 
all  as  the  first  part  of  the  service.1  All  of  the  benedictions 
are  introduced  with  the  words,  ''Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord 
our  God,  King  of  the  world;"  only  what  follows  need  be 
stated.  We  omit  here  what  one  should  say  when  he  goes 
to  bed,  but  when  one  awakes  he  says  (without  the  intro- 
ductory words) : 

My  God,  the  soul  which  thou  hast  placed  within  is  pure;  thou 
hast  formed  it,  thou  hast  breathed  it  into  me,  thou  guardest  it  within 
me,  and  thou  wilt  hereafter  take  it  from  me,  to  return  it  to  me  in 
the  later  future;  as  long  as  the  soul  is  within  me,  I  confess  before 
thee,  O  Lord  my  God  and  God  of  my  fathers,  Master  of  all 
worlds,  Lord  of  all  souls.  Blessed, etc.,  who  returneth  the  soul  to 
dead  bodies. 

Here  is  an  assertion  of  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh  not 
found  elsewhere  in  the  liturgy.  An  old  authority  however 
suggests,  "Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the 
world,  who  revivest  the  dead,"  as  a  substitute.2 

(203) 


204       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  Talmud  proceeds:  When  he  hears  the  crowing  of 
the  cock,  let  him  say — 

"Blessed,  etc.,  who  hast  given  understanding  to  the  cock, 
to  distinguish  between  day  and  night"  (alluding  to  Job  38: 
36,  where  the  common  version  however  renders  "mind" 
the  word  which  the  Rabbis  interpret  "cock"). 

When  he  opens  his  eyes,  "Blessed,  who  makest  the 
blind  to  see;"  When  he  sits  up,  "Blessed,  who  loosest  the 
captives."  Its  temporary  substitute.  "Blessed,  etc.,  who 
settest  the  lowly  on  high,"  soon  fell  into  disuse. 

The  benedictions  over  the  study  of  the  Law  have  been 
given  in  the  preceding  chapter.  When  he  has  put  on  his 
garment,  let  him  say,  "Blessed,  who  clothest  the  naked;" 
when  he  sits  up  straight,  "Blessed,  who  raisest  up  them 
that  are  bowed  down."  When  he  comes  down  on  the 
ground,  let  him  say,  "Blessed,  who  stretchest  the  earth  over 
the  waters"  (Ps.  136:  6).  When  he  steps  out,  "Blessed, 
who  directest  the  steps  of  man."  When  he  fastens  his  shoe, 
"Blessed,  who  hast  provided  for  all  my  wants."  When 
he  binds  his  girdle  around  him,  "Blessed,  who  girdeth 
Israel  with  strength."  When  he  spreads  his  kerchief  on 
his  head  (making  his  turban),  "Blessed,  who  crovvnest  Israel 
with  beauty."  When  he  wraps  himself  in  the  fringed 
shawl,  "Blessed,  who  hast  sanctified  us  with  his  command- 
ments, and  hast  commanded  us  to  wrap  ourselves  with  the 
fringes."  When  he  puts  the  phylacteries  on  his  arm,  he 
should  say,  "Blessed,  who  hast,  etc.,  and  commanded  us 
to  put  on  phylacteries."  When  he  puts  them  on  his  head, 
"Blessed,  etc.,  and  commanded  us  about  the  duty  of  phy- 
lacteries." When  he  washes  his  hands,  "Blessed,  etc.,  and 
commanded  us  about  the  washing  of  hands."  When  he 
washes  his  face,  he  should  say: 

Blessed  be  them,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who 
removest  the  bonds  of  sleep  from  my  eyes  and  slumber  from  my 
eyelids  (cmp.  Ps.  132:  4).  Be  it  thy  will,  O  Lord  my  God  and  God 
of  our  fathers,  that  thou  mayest  lead  me  in  the  path  of  thy  Law, 


THE  LESSER  AND   THE  DOUBTFl'L  BENEDICTIONS      205 

keep  me  fast  to  thy  commands,  and  bring  me  not  into  sin  or 
iniquity,  nor  into  temptation,  nor  into  scorn;  bend  my  impulse  into 
subjection  to  thee;  let  me  be  far  from  evil  men  and  evil  com- 
panions; let  me  hold  fast  to  the  good  impulse  and  to  a  good  com- 
panion in  thy  world,  and  let  me  find  to-day  and  every  day  grace, 
love,  and  mercy  in  thine  eyes,  and  in  the  eyes  of  all  that  see  me, 
and  deal  with  me  in  kindness.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who 
dealest  kindly  with  his  people  Israel. 

Since  these  benedictions  were  transferred  from  the  bed- 
side to  the  house  of  worship,  and  are  given  out  by  the 
leader  to  be  answered  by  the  Amen  of  those  assembled 
with  him,  the  singular  in  the  last  of  them  has  been  turned 
into  the  plural,  "Our  God,  lead  us;  bring  us,"  etc.  For  a 
few  hundred  years  the  benediction,  "He  who  crowns  Israel 
with  beauty,"  was  neglected  in  Christian  countries,3  because 
the  Jew  did  not  wind  his  handkerchief  into  a  turban,  or 
actually  walked  about  bare-headed,  but  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury it  became  again  universal. 

Another  passage  of  the  Talmud  recommends  three  bene- 
dictions, "who  hast  not  made  me  a  Gentile,"  "who  hast 
not  made  me  a  bondman,"  "who  hast  not  made  me  a 
woman,"  which  are  in  our  service  books  placed  among 
those  given  above.  The  Israelite  here  thanks  God  for  his 
duties,  he  being  bound  by  all  the  commands  of  the  Law, 
the  Gentile  by  very  few,  the  bondman  and  the  woman  by 
only  a  part.  In  another  passage  the  first  of  these  benedic- 
tions says  plainly,  "who  hast  made  me  an  Israelite,"  "not 
made  me  a  woman,"  "not  made  me  quite  ignorant."  But 
the  former  version  has  prevailed.4  The  motive  assigned  in 
the  Talmud  for  these  expressions  of  thanks  is  that  each 
Israelite  may  have  occasion  for  blessing  God  one  hundred 
times  each  day. 

Another  benediction,  very  proper  after  a  good  night's 
rest,  is  found  in  the  German  prayer  books,  "who  givest 
power  to  the  faint"  (cmp.  Isa.  40:  29);  but  it  is  wholly  re- 
jected by  the  Sefardim,  because  it  has  no  support  in  the 
Talmud. 


206       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

A  half  homiletic,  half  mystical  book  of  the  ninth  century 
recommends  the  recital  of  "Master  of  all  worlds,"  which  was 
probably  then  in  daily  use  by  the  more  devout,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words: 

"Let  every  man  fear  Heaven  in  secret  as  in  public,  con- 
fess the  truth,  speak  the  truth  in  his  heart,  and  rise  early  and 
say."  This  is  also  found  in  R.  Amram's  liturgy,  which,  if 
the  passage  is  authentic,  would  be  the  older  source.  In  the 
Sefardic  and  in  the  Polish  Minhag  the  above  injunction  is 
read  along  with  the  piece  that  follows: 

Master  of  all  worlds!  we  cast  our  supplications  before  thee,  not 
by  reason  of  our  righteousness,  but  of  thy  abundant  mercies. 
(Dan.  9:  18):  What  are  we  (etc.,  as  in  Ch.  XII,  in  Neila,  to  "all  is 
vanity"). 

(After  this  deep  wail  over  the  nothingness  of  man  before 
infinite  time  comes  the  answer,  that  though  plain  man  be 
nothing,  the  Israelite  is  something): 

But  we  are  thy  people,  the  sons  of  thy  covenant,  children  of 
Abraham,  thy  friend,  to  whom  thou  sworest  on  Mount  Moriah, 
the  seed  of  Isaac,  his  only  child,  who  lay  bound  on  the  altar,  the 
congregation  of  Jacob,  thy  first-born,  to  whom  in  love  and  in 
rejoicing  thou  gavest  the  names  of  Israel  and  Jeshurun.  Therefore 
\vc  arc  bound  to  thank,  to  praise,  and  to  glorify  thee,  and  to  hallow, 
to  honor,  and  to  sanctify  thy  name.  Happy  we  are,  how  goodly  is 
our  share,  how  pleasant  our  lot,  how  fair  our  heritage;  happy  we 
who  early  in  the  morning,  and  when  the  evening  sets  in,  twice  every 
day,  say: 

Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One. 
(Blessed  be  the  name  of  his  glorious  Kingdom  for  evermore.) 

Thou  wast  before  the  world  was  made;  thou  art  since  the  world 
is  made;  thou  art  the  same  in  this  world;  the  same  in  the  world 
to  come;  hallow  thy  name  in  those  who  sanctify  it;  hallow  it  in  thy 
world;  lift  and  raise  our  horn  throueh  thy  salvation.  [Blessed  be 
thou,  O  Lord,  thou  who  hallowest  thy  name  among  many]. 

This  conclusion  is  given  in  the  German  prayer  books, 
in  the  second  person  throughout.  The  Sefardim  have 


THE  LESSER  AND  THE  DOUBTFUL  BENEDICTIONS 


207 


never  admitted  that  a  competent  authority  has  drawn  up  or 
recommended  this  benediction  so  as  to  justify  the  use  of 
God's  name  in  the  close;  they  wind  it  up,  "Blessed  be  he 
who  sanctifieth  his  name  among  many." 

Maimonides  ignores  it  in  enumerating  the  obligatory 
morning  benedictions,  but  gives  it  in  a  slightly  modified 
form  without  the  divine  name  at  the  close  in  his  "Order  of 
Prayer  for  the  Whole  Year."  Abudraham  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  later  rejects  it  all  as  unauthorized. 

A  prayer  beginning  "Master  of  the  Worlds"  is  spoken  of 
in  the  Talmud  as  one  of  those  drawn  up  to  introduce  the 
confessions  on  the  Day  of  Atonement,  but  it  can  never  be 
known  how  far  it  coincides  with  the  above;  probably  only 
as  far  as  "All  is  vanity."5 

We  have  next  in  the  morning  service  the  "hymns,"  which 
carry  with  them  two  "Benedictions  of  Song,"  one  at  or  near 
the  beginning,  the  other  at  the  end. 

The  first  of  these  is  peculiar  by  the  many  starts  taken 
with  the  word  "Blessed"  before  "Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord" 
is  reached: 

Blessed  be  he  who  spoke  and  the  world  was;  blessed  be  he; 
blessed  the  maker  at  the  beginning;  blessed  be  he  who  saith  and 
doeth;  blessed  be  he  who  decideth  and  carries  out;  blessed  be  he 
who  hath  mercy  on  the  earth;  blessed  be  he  who  hath  mercy  on  his 
creatures;  blessed  he  who  payeth  a  goodly  reward  to  those  who 
fear  him;  blessed  he  who  liveth  forever,  and  lasteth  into  the 
infinite;  blessed  he  who  redeemeth  and  delivereth;  blessed  be  his 
name. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  the  God,  the 
merciful  Father,  who  is  praised  by  the  mouth  of  his  people,  lauded 
and  glorified  by  the  tongue  of  his  pious  worshippers;  in  the  songs 
of  thy  servant  David  we  shall  praise  thee,  O  Lord  our  God,  with 
hymns  and  melodies;  we  shall  exalt  and  praise  thee;  we  shall  give 
thee  glory  and  homage;  we  shall  make  mention  of  thy  name,  and 
give  thee  homage,  our  King,  our  only  God,  who  liveth  for  ever- 
more. Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  King,  who  is  praised  in 
hyrrms." 


208       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  closing  benediction  of  song  which  follows  the  Psalms 
and  other  morning  hymns  is  quite  short  on  work-days,  but 
it  is  introduced  on  Sabbaths  and  Festivals  by  a  long  half- 
poetical  introduction,  of  which  a  good  part  at  least  is  very 
old,  known  from  its  first  word  as  Nish'math: 

May  the  soul  of  all  that  liveth  bless  thy  name,  O  Lord  our  God, 
and  the  spirit  of  all  flesh  steadily  glorify  and  exalt  thy  memorial, 
our  King. 

From  everlasting  to  everlasting  thou  art  God,  and  beside  thee 
we  have  no  King,  Redeemer,  or  Saviour,  no  Deliverer,  no  merciful 
Provider;  in  all  times  of  trouble  and  distress  we  have  no  King  but 
thee.  God  of  the  first  and  of  the  last,  Lord  of  all  generations, 
praised  in  numberless  hymns,  who  guideth  his  world  with  kind- 
ness and  his  creatures  with  mercy.  And  the  Lord  slumbers  not, 
nor  sleepeth;  he  who  rouseth  the  sleeping,  and  them  who  are  sunk 
in  stupor  he  waketh;  he  causeth  the  dumb  to  speak,  he  looseth  the 
bound,  he  supporteth  the  falling,  and  raiseth  them  that  are  bowed 
down;  to  thee  alone  we  give  thanks. 

This  part  is  of  later  date  than  what  follows  next,  and 
sounds  like  a  protest  against  the  Christian  belief  in  a  Re- 
deemer other  than  God.  The  Talmud,  in  speaking  of  the 
benediction  after  a  copious  fall  of  rain,  denotes  it,  "Were 
our  mouth  full."  We  proceed  here: 

Were  our  mouth  full  of  song  like  the  sea,  our  tongue  of  gleeful 
airs  like  its  numberless  waves,  our  lips  of  praise  like  the  wide 
expansion;  were  our  eyes  shining  like  sun  and  moon;  could  our 
hands  reach  out  like  the  eagles  of  the  sky;  were  our  feet  swift  as 
the  hinds;  yet  we  could  not  thank  thee,  O  Lord  our  God  and  God 
of  our  fathers,  nor  could  we  bless  thy  name  one  thousandth  of  what 
is  due.  Thousands  of  millions,  myriads  of  myriads  are  the  kind 
things  which  thou  hast  done  for  our  fathers  and  for  us.  Thou  hast 
saved  us  from  Egypt,  O  Lord  our  God,  and  redeemed  us  from  the 
house  of  bondage;  hast  fed  us  in  famine,  and  supported  us  through 
plenty,  hast  delivered  us  from  the  sword,  made  us  to  escape  the 
plague,  and  kept  us  from  evil  and  malignant  sickness.  So  far  thy 
mercy  hath  helped  us,  and  thy  kindness  hath  not  forsaken  us;  then 
do  not,  O  Lord  our  God,  reject  us  forever.  Therefore,  the  limbs 
which  thou  hast  distributed  through  our  bodies,  the  spirit  and 
breath  which  thou  hast  breathed  into  our  nostrils,  the  tongue 


THE  LESSER  AND  THE  DOUBTFUL  BENEDICTIONS      209 

which  thou  hast  placed  into  our  mouth;  all  these  shall  thank  and 
bless  and  praise  and  glorify  and  exalt  and  hold  in  awe  and  hallow 
thy  name  and  do  to  it  homage.  For  every  mouth  giveth  thanks  to 
thee;  every  tongue  sweareth  allegiance;  every  knee  bendeth,  and 
whatever  is  erect,  boweth  down  before  thee.  And  all  hearts  fear 
thee;  all  inwards  and  reins  sing  to  thy  name.  As  it  is  written  (Ps. 
35:  10):  All  my  bones  shall  say:  O  Lord,  who  is  like  thee,  who 
deliverest  the  poor  from  one  stronger  than  he;  the  poor  and  needy 
from  him  that  robbeth  him. 

So  far,  perhaps  not  quite  so  far,  we  have  the  thanksgiving 
spoken  after  a  longed-for  rain.  The  suggestions  in  the 
Talmud,  that  thanks  should  be  given  "for  every  single 
drop,"  accounts  for  the  vast  numbers;  it  does  not  take  long 
for  a  thousand  million  drops  to  fall.  It  explains  also  the 
reference  to  famine  and  to  plenty.  What  is  given  below  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  thanks  for  rain: 

The  Almighty  (El),  the  great,  powerful,  and  fearful,  God  Most 
High,  the  owner  of  heaven  and  earth.  We  will  praise  and  glorify 
thee  and  bless  thy  holy  name.  As  it  is  written  by  David  (Ps. 
103:  i):  Bless,  O  my  soul,  the  Lord,  and  all  my  inwards  his  holy 
name.  The  Almighty,  in  the  strength  of  thy  power,  the  great,  in  the 
glory  of  thy  name,  the  powerful  for  victory,  and  the  fearful  in  thy 
terrors;  the  King  sitting  on  a  high  and  exalted  throne;  who 
inhabiteth  eternity,  high  and  holy  is  thy  name  (cmp.  Isa.  57:  15) 
[for  all  this  the  Sefardim  substitute:  Thou  hearest  the  supplication 
of  the  lowly;  thou  listenest  to  the  cry  of  the  poor  man  and  savest 
him]. 

As  it  is  written  (Ps.  33:  i):  Rejoice  in  the  Lord,  O  ye  righteous; 
praise  is  comely  for  the  upright. 

Be  thou  praised  by  the  mouth  of  the  upright;  be  thou  blessed  in 
the  words  of  the  righteous;  be  thou  exalted  by  the  tongue  of  the 
pious,  and  be  thou  sanctified  in  the  heart  of  the  saints. 

And  in  the  numerous  assemblies  of  thy  people,  the  house  of 
Israel,  thy  name  is  glorified  in  song  in  every  age;  for  such  is  the 
duty  of  all  creatures  before  thee,  O  Lord  our  God  and  God  of  our 
fathers,  to  give  thanks  and  praise,  to  glorify  and  exalt,  to  honor 
and  to  bless,  to  raise  on  high  and  to  adorn  with  all  the  songs  and 
praises  of  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  thy  servant,  thy  anointed. 

On  work-days  the  benediction  begins  here: 


210       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

May  thy  name  be  praised  forever,  our  King,  the  great  and  holy 
King  and  God,  in  the  heavens  and  on  earth;  for  there  are  due  to 
thee,  our  Lord,  our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  songs  and  hymns, 
praise  and  music,  might  and  dominion,  triumph,  greatness,  power, 
honor,  magnificence,  holiness,  kingship,  blessings,  and  thanks- 
giving from  now  for  evermore.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  God, 
King  who  art  great  in  praises,  God  of  thanksgivings,  Lord  of 
wonderful  deeds,  who  hast  chosen  musical  songs,  King,  God  who 
liveth  eternally. 

The  latter  parts  of  the  composition  for  Sabbath  and  the 
benediction  proper  betray  accretions  when  acrostics  had 
crept  into  the  liturgy.  The  initials  of  Upright,  Righteous, 
Pious,  Saints,  spell  J-Tz-H-Q,  i.  e.,  Isaac,  and  the  words 
were  probably  put  into  this  order  to  bespeak  the  merits  of 
Father  Isaac  on  his  seed.  The  words,  Exalted,  Blessed, 
Sanctified,  Praised,  are  arranged  thus  on  the  solemn  days, 
to  make  up  R-B-Q-H,  i.  e.,  Rebekah,  and  the  very  seal  of 
the  benediction  in  clauses  yields  A-B-R-H-M.  The  fifteen 
nouns  from  Songs  to  Thanksgiving  in  the  last  paragraph 
were  (it  is  believed)  suggested  by  the  fifteen  Songs  of 
Degrees. 

The  sealing  of  the  benediction  for  rain  was  at  first  "God 
of  many  thanksgivings;"  that  of  the  benediction  after  song, 
as  of  the  benediction  before  it,  "King  honored  in  praises," 
or,  if  you  so  choose  to  render  it,  "King  praised  in  hymns." 
The  longer  sealings  now  in  use  in  both  rituals  probably  took 
their  shape  in  the  seventh  or  eighth  century.7 

Another  doubtful  benediction  is  the  third  one  after  the 
Shema  in  the  evening  service.  We  have  in  Chapter  XIII 
given  the  Dible  verses  which  introduce  it.  It  proceeds  thus: 

Blessed  be  the  Lord  by  day;  blessed  be  the  Lord  by  night; 
blessed  be  the  Lord  when  we  lie  down;  blessed  be  the  Lord  when 
we  rise.  For  in  thy  hands  are  the  souls  of  the  living  and  of  the 
dead  (Job  12:  10) :  In  whose  hands  is  the  soul  of  every  living  thing 
and  the  spirit  of  all  mankind.  (Ps.  31:  6):  In  thy  hand  I  commit 
my  spirit;  thou  hast  redeemed  me,  O  Lord,  God  of  truth.  Our 


THE  LESSER  AND   THE  DOUBTFUL  BENEDICTIONS      2n 

God  in   Heaven,  give  unity  to  thy  name;  establish  thy  Kingdom, 
and  reign  over  us  forever. 

May  our  eyes  behold,  may  our  heart  be  glad,  and  our  soul  rejoice, 
in  thy  true  salvation;  when  they  say  to  Zion,  thy  King  reigneth. 
The  Lord  is  King,  the  Lord  has  reigned,  the  Lord  will  reign 
for  evermore  (see  about  this  line,  Ch.  XIII).  For  the  King- 
dom is  thine,  and  to  all  eternity  thou  wilt  reign  in  glory;  and 
we  have  no  King  but  thee.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the  King, 
who  in  his  glory  will  always  reign  over  us  and  over  all  his  works. 

The  original  of  the  benediction  cannot  be  traced  to  any 
certain  source.  The  Sefardim  for  a  long  while  disputed 
its  lawfulness,  and  have  finally  rejected  it.  In  the  German 
ritual  it  is  used  on  all  work-day  evenings.  It  is  said  to  be 
in  some  way  a  counterpart  of  the  eighteen  benedictions  of 
the  Amida,  intended  at  first  as  a  substitute  for  this.8 

Lastly  we  have  a  benediction  which  precedes  the  per- 
formance (by  the  speaking  of  certain  words)  of  a  Scrip- 
tural command.  The  twenty-third  chapter  of  Leviticus 
bids  us  count  the  days  "from  the  morrow  of  the  rest 
day,"  seven  times  seven  days,  nine  and  forty  days  between 
Passover  and  Pentecost.  The  command  is  performed  dur- 
ing the  services  of  the  evening  with  which  the  day  to  be 
counted  begins.  Thus,  on  the  thirty-third  day,  for  instance, 
they  say,  "This  is  the-  thirty-third  day,  being  four  weeks 
and  five  days  of  the  'Omer  (sheaf)."  But  first  they  give 
thanks  on  these  forty-nine  evenings. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  hast  commanded  us  about 
the  counting  of  the  'Omer.9 


CHAPTER  XVI 

OTHER  PROSE  COMPOSITIONS 

RABBI  JUDAH,  the  second  Patriarch  of  the  name  and 
grandson  of  the  compiler  of  the  Mishna,  is  reported  as 
sending  up  the  following  petition  after  the  Prayer: 

May  it  be  thy  will,  O  Lord  my  God  and  God  of  my  fathers,  that 
thou  mayest  deliver  me  to-day  and  every  day  from  the  hard- 
faced  and  from  hardfacedness  (i.  e.,  the  impudent  and  impudence), 
from  an  evil  man,  an  evil  companion,  an  evil  neighbor,  and  evil 
happenings,  from  the  destroying  adversary  (Satan),  from  a  hard 
cause  and  a  stubborn  litigant,  be  he  a  son  of  the  covenant,  or  be 
he  not  a  son  of  the  covenant. 

This  "litany"  has  been  received  into  the  early  morning 
service  right  after  the  bed-room  benedictions  set  forth  in 
the  preceding  chapter.  In  modern  prayer  books  of  the 
Sefardic  ritual  (not  yet  in  Abudraham's  commentary)  the 
utterly  unauthorized  words  are  added,  "and  from  a  sen- 
tence to  Gc-Hinnom,"  i.  e.,  "from  damnation."  The  "lit- 
any," or  prayer  for  deliverance  from  named  or  unnamed 
evils,  is  undoubtedly  much  older;  the  filling  up, in  which  the 
impudent,  that  is,  undutiful  subordinates  and  stubborn 
litigants  are  prominent,  may  have  been  suggested  to  the 
Patriarch  by  his  troubles  with  the  Rabbis  and  scholars, 
who  often  revolted  against  his  measures.1 

Next  comes  the  doubtful  benediction,  "Master  of  the 
Worlds"  (see  the  preceding  chapter),  then  the  following 
pendant  thereto,  written  in  very  pure  Hebrew: 

Thou  art,  O  Lord  our  God,  in  the  heavens  and  on  the  earth 
and  in  the  highest  heaven  of  heavens  (cmp.  i  Kings  8:  27).  Thou 
art  the  first  and  thou  art  the  last,  and  beside  thee  there  is  no  God. 

(212) 


OTHER  PROSE  COMPOSITIONS  213 

Gather  those  that  hope  for  thee  from  the  four  ends  of  the  earth; 
may  all  those  that  come  into  the  world  learn  and  know,  that  thou 
art  alone  God  for  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  Thou  hast  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  is  therein  (Ex.  20:  n);  and 
who  is  there  among  the  works  of  thy  hands,  above  or  below,  who 
can  tell  thee  what  to  do,  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven!  Deal  kindly 
with  us  for  the  sake  of  thy  great  name,  which  is  pronounced  over 
us,  and  fulfill  for  us,  O  Lord  our  God,  what  has  been  written 
(Zeph.  3:  20):  In  that  time  I  will  bring  them  in;  even  in  the  time 
when  I  gather  them;  for  I  will  set  them  up  for  a  name  and  praise 
among  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth;  when  I  return  your  captivity 
in  your  sight,  says  the  Lord.'" 

Omitting  for  want  of  space  the  non-Biblical  parts  of 
"long  Vehu  Rahum,"  as  read  on  Monday  and  Thursday 
mornings  (see  Ch.  XIII),  we  are  brought  to  a  short  prayer 
for  these  days  after  a  Half  Kaddish  and  before  the  taking 
out  of  the  scroll,  drawn  up  in  two  varying  forms: 

(1)  God,    long-suffering   and    great    in    kindness   and   truth,    do 
not  chastise  me  in  thy  wrath;  spare,  O  Lord,  thy  people,  and  save 
us  from  all  that  is  evil;  we  have  sinned  against  thee,  O  Master; 
forgive,  in  thy  abundant  mercies,  O  God. 

(2)  God,  long-suffering  and  great  in  kindness  and  truth,  do  not 
hide   thy  face    from   us;    spare,    O    Lord,   thy  people   Israel,    and 
deliver  us  from  all  evil:  we  have  sinned,  etc. 

This  prayer  is  omitted  on  all  holidays,  such  as  Middle 
Days,  New  Moons,  Hanucca,  Purim,  and  on  the  Ninth  of 
Ab.  It  is  not  noticed  by  Maimonides  in  his  Code.  Abu- 
draham  gives  both  forms  to  be  recited  consecutively  as  a 
fully  accepted  part  of  the  service.3 

Reserving  for  another  chapter  whatever  is  closely  related 
to  the  "lessons,"  we  come  next  to  these  petitions  which  the 
Germans  read  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays — the  Sefardim, 
however,  on  the  Sabbath  preceding  a  New  Moon — while 
the  scroll  is  on  the  desk: 

Be  it  the  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in  Heaven,  to  set  up  our 
House  of  Life  and  to  restore  thy  Presence  to  our  midst;  soon-  in 
our  days,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 


214       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Be  it  the  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in  Heaven,  to  show  mercy 
to  us,  even  to  our  remnant,  and  to  keep  the  destroyer  and  plague 
away  from  us  and  from  all  his  people  Israel,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

Be  it  the  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in  Heaven,  to  keep  alive 
among  us  the  wise  men  of  Israel,  them,  their  wives  and  sons  and 
daughters  and  disciples,  and  the  disciples  of  their  disciples,  in  all 
their  dwelling  places,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

Be  it  the  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in  Heaven,  that  we  may 
hear  and  receive  good  tidings  of  salvation  and  comfort,  and  may 
he  gather  our  outcasts  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  and  say 
ye.  Amen. 

To  which  the  Germans  add: 

Our  brethren,  all  the  children  of  Israel,  who  are  placed  in  distress 
and  captivity,  who  abide  either  on  the  sea  or  on  land;  may  God 
have  mercy  on  them,  and  bring  them  forth  from  distress  to 
enlargement,  from  gloom  to  light,  from  bondage  to  redemption, 
this  year,  soon,  and  at  a  near  time,  and  say  ye,  Amen.4 

We  come  next  to  the  tin-Scriptural  part  of  the  collection, 
"A  redeemer  will  come  to  Zion,"  of  which  the  Scripture 
verses  have  been  given  in  Chapter  XIII: 

Blessed  be  our  God,  who  has  created  us  for  his  glory,  and  has 
separated  us  from  the  erring;  who  has  given  us  the  Law  of  Truth, 
and  has  planted  within  us  eternal  life.  May  he  open  our  heart  to  his 
Law,  and  may  he  put  therein  the  love  and  fear  of  him,  that  we 
may  do  his  will  and  that  we  may  serve  him  with  a  full  heart;  to 
the  end  we  may  not  labor  in  vain,  and  be  not  born  for  the  hurrying 
moment.  Be  it  thy  will,  O  Lord  our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers, 
that  we  may  observe  thy  statutes  and  precepts  in  this  world,  and 
that  we  may  merit,  and  live  to  see  and  inherit,  happiness  and  bless- 
ing [in  the  days  of  the  Messiah  and]  in  the  life  of  the  world  to 
come. 

The  words  in  brackets  are  not  in  the  Sefardic  Prayer 
Book." 

A  composition  written  for  the  Day  of  Memorial,  'Alcnu 
("It  is  our  duty")  (see  Ch.  XI),  wherein  Israel  takes  upon 
itself  the  yoke  of  God's  Kingdom,  and  hopes  that  all  men 
alike  will  soon  acknowledge  it,  comes  next. 

The  Germans  recite  the  two  paragraphs  as  Rab  composed 


OTHER  PROSE  COMPOSITIONS  215 

them,  for  an  introduction  to  the  Kingdom  verses,  and  here 
they  formerly  stopped;6  but  modern  prayer  books  subjoin 
these  two  verses: 

As  it  is  written  in  thy  Law:  the  Lord  shall  reign  forevermore; 
and  it  is  said,  the  Lord  shall  be  King  over  all  the  earth:  on  that 
day  the  Lord  shall  be  one  and  his  name  One. 

The  latter  verse,  the  embodiment  of  Israel's  faith,  is  best 
known  to  old  and  young  from  its  recital  here.  Every  choir 
solemnly  sings  the  closing  words,  "The  Lord  shall  be  one 
and  his  name  One." 

'Alenu  was  formerly  recited  only  in  the  morning,  the 
complete  Kaddish  preceding,  the  Mourners'  Kaddish  fol- 
lowing it.6  It  is  now  recited  after  every  service  in  order 
to  give  the  mourners  an  opportunity  to  say  "Kaddish." 

The  Sefardim  have  but  very  lately  (say  in  the  sixteenth 
century)  adopted  'Alcmi  in  the  daily  liturgy,  and  only  its 
first  paragraph.  They  put  it  at  the  very  end,  after  the 
Psalm  for  the  day,  without  even  a  Kaddish  to  follow  it. 

On  the  Sabbath,  after  reading  the  lessons  from  the  Law 
and  from  the  Prophets,  but  without  any  reference  to  them, 
four  blessings  are  spoken  in  the  German  ritual,  two  in  Ara- 
maic, two  in  Hebrew.  The  former  have  become  quite  a 
stumbling  block,  partly  because  the  language  once  chosen 
to  make  them  more  easily  understood  is  now  least  known, 
partly  because  the  first  of  the  two  has  long  since  been  out  of 
date,  and  a  "vain  prayer,"  and  as  such  unlawful:  they  are 
known  as  Yekum  Purkan. 

May  deliverance  arise  from  heaven,  grace  and  kindness,  long- 
continued  mercy  and  plentiful  provision,  heavenly  assistance,  bodily 
health,  and  the  higher  light,  live  and  lasting  seed,  a  posterity 
which  will  not  cease  nor  drop  out  from  the  words  of  the  Law*;  to 
our  Masters  and  Rabbis,  the  holy  companies  that  are  in  Palestine 
or  in  Babylonia;  to  the  heads  of  the  assemblies,  the  heads  of  the 
exile  (Resh  Gelutha);  the  heads  of  the  colleges,  and  the  judges  of  the 
courts,  to  their  disciples,  and  to  the  disciples  of  their  disciples,  and 
to  all  who  study  the  Law.**  May  the  King  of  the  world  bless 


2l6       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

them,  extend  their  lives,  make  their  days  many,  and  give  length  to 
their  years;  may  they  be  saved  and  delivered  from  all  trouble  and 
from  all  grievous  sickness;  may  our  Master  in  Heaven  be  their 
support,  at  every  time  and  season,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

According  to  the  rubric  in  the  prayer  books  an  indi- 
vidual should  recite  this  even  at  his  home.  But  in  the  Syna- 
gogue this  formula  is  repeated,  substituting  now  for  the 
words  between  *  and  **  the  following: 

"to  all  this  holy  congregation,  the  great  and  the  small,  women 
and  children." 

In  what  follows,  the  words  "you"  and  "your"  are  substi- 
tuted for  "they"  and  "their." 

Thus  modified  this  blessing  is  very  proper. 

The  language  is  the  eastern  Aramaic;  the  word  for  assem- 
blies (Calld)  denotes  the  half-yearly  meeting  addressed  by 
the  Babylonian  Rabbis;  the  word  for  colleges  (Methibatha), 
those  of  Sura  and  Pumbeditha.  The  heads  of  these  col- 
leges must  have  sent  these  compositions  to  the  Western 
world,  that  they  might  have  the  benefit  of  the  prayers  of 
all  Israel,  perhaps  after,  perhaps  before  the  days  of  R. 
Amram.7  The  mention  of  the  Palestinian  schools  was  an 
honor  paid  to  the  sacred  soil  on  which  they  stood;  for  at 
the  time  but  little  learning  was  left  at  Tiberias  and  Caesarea. 

The  Sefardim  in  lively  correspondence  with  the  Baby- 
lonian authorities  were  probably  the  first  to  receive  Yekum 
Pnrkan  into  their  liturgy.  Being  the  first  also  to  learn  of 
the  downfall  and  extinction  of  the  schools,  they  discontin- 
ued the  recital  of  words  which  had  become  a  "vain  prayer," 
while  the  Jews  of  the  German  Minhag,  from  sheer  inertia, 
went  on  praying  for  dignitaries  for  from  four  hundred  to 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  their  extinction.8 

Next  comes  an  appropriate  prayer  in  Hebrew  for  those 
of  our  own  day: 

He  who  blessed  our  fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  may  he 
bless  all  this  holy  congregation,  with  all  other  like  congregations; 


OTHER  PROSE  COMPOSITIONS  2iy 

them,  their  wives,  their  sons  and  daughters,  and  all  that  is  theirs; 
those  who  set  aside  synagogues  for  worship,  and  those  who  enter 
them  to  pray;  those  who  give  lamps  for  lighting  them,  and  wine 
for  Kiddush  (consecration)  and  for  Habdala  (separation),  bread  to 
travellers,  and  alms  to  the  poor;  and  all  those  who  faithfully  attend 
to  the  needs  of  the  community.  May  God  pay  their  reward,  remove 
from  them  all  sickness,  heal  their  bodily  ailments,  and  forgive 
their  sins,  and  send  blessing  and  prosperity  unto  all  their  under- 
takings, and  so  with  Israel,  their  brethren,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

It  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  blessings  that  are  pronounced 
at  the  reading  of  the  lessons  (see  next  Book).  It  is  neither 
found  nor  mentioned  in  the  older  standards  of  the  German 
ritual,  such  as  the  MahzorVitry,  and  dates  probably  from  the 
sixteenth  century. 

The  Sefardim  have  combined  parts  of  this  blessing  with 
a  part  of  the  second  Yekum  Purkan  into  a  curious  com- 
pound of  Hebrew  and  Aramaic. 

A  well-known  passage  of  the  Mishna  tells  us  to  pray  for 
the  welfare  of  the  government  imposed  on  Israel  by  the 
Gentiles,  "for  were  not  men  afraid  of  it,  they  would  eat  each 
other  alive;"  i.  e.,  the  worst  government  is  better  than  none 
at  all.9 

However,  no  prayer  for  government  is  found  in  the  old 
liturgies,  nor  any  direction  to  recite  one  at  any  named  time 
in  the  old  standards.  Abudraham,  however,  after  speaking 
of  the  lessons,  says,  "It  is  the  custom  to  bless  the  King 
and  to  pray  to  God,  that  he  may  give  him  victory,"  and 
after  justifying  this  custom  he  proceeds,  "And  then  he 
blesses  the  congregation."  He  does  not  giive  the  form  of 
either  blessing.  In  Spain,  where  the  intercourse  between 
Christians  and  Jews  was  close,  and  where  many  of  the 
former  understood  Hebrew,  the  government  probably  saw 
to  it  that  the  Jews  performed  a  duty  enjoined  on  them  by 
their  own  Sages.  Hence  the  formula  below  was  elaborated, 
and  when  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Jews  about  the  year 
1600  took  refuge  in  Holland,  they  brought  this  formula 


218        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

with  them;  it  is  printed  in  the  Amsterdam  prayer  book  of 
1658.  When  the  German  princes  found  the  Jews  of  Am- 
sterdam praying  for  their  government,  they  made  their  own 
Jewish  subjects  do  likewise,  and  these  adopted  the  Sefardic 
form  less  its  astrological  part.  Thus  Hannothcn  Tcshua 
came  into  the  German  ritual,  but  after  the  blessing  of  the 
congregation. 
Here  it  is: 

He  who  giveth  salvation  to  kings  and  dominion  to  anointed 
rulers;  his  Kingdom  is  everlasting;  he  who  delivered  his  servant 
David  from  the  cruel  sword  (cmp.  Ps.  144:  10);  who  maketh  a  way 
in  the  sea  and  a  path  in  mighty  waters  (Isa.  43:  16) ;  may  he  bless, 
keep,  guard,  and  help,  exalt,  and  raise  higher  and  higher  our  lord, 
the  king,  N.  N.,  high  be  his  glory;  may  the  great  King  of  kings 
preserve  him  alive,  and  deliver  him  from  all  trouble  and  harm 
[Sefardim  add:  from  all  unlucky  influences  of  the  stars],  subject 
nations  to  him,  overthrow  his  enemies,  and  let  him  prosper  where- 
soever he  turneth;  may  the  great  King  of  kings  put  mercy  into  his 
heart  and  that  of  all  his  counsellors  and  grandees,  to  deal  kindly 
with  us  and  with  all  Israel,  our  brethren;  in  his  days  and  in  ours 
may  Judah  be  saved,  and  Israel  dwell  securely;  and  may  a  redeemer 
come  to  Zion;  so  mote  it  be;  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

On  the  Sabbath  before  a  New  Moon  the  congregation 
join  in  the  following  prayer  for  the  coming  of  a  happy 
month : 

Be  it  thy  will,  O  Lord  our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  to  renew 
for  us  this  month  unto  happiness  and  blessing;  give  us  long  life, 
peaceful  life,  happy  life;  a  life  of  blessings;  a  life  of  good  provision, 
a  life  of  bodily  health;  a  life  full  of  fear  of  God  and  fear  of  sinning; 
a  life  without  shame  or  blushing;  a  life  of  wealth  and  honor;  a  life 
with  love  of  the  law  and  fear  of  God;  life  in  which  our  wishes  may 
be  fulfilled  for  good.  Amen.  Selah. 

The  above  is  given  in  the  Talmud,  without  the  words,  "to 
renew  for  us  this  month  unto  happiness  and  blessing,"  as 
the  private  devotion  of  Rab  of  Sura,  but  has  been  adopted 
in  the  German  Minhag  for  this  purpose;  the  prayers  in  use 


OTHER  PROSE  COMPOSITIONS  ng 

among  the  Sefardim  for  "sanctifying  the  month"  have  been 
noticed  above. 
Then  the  leader  lifts  up  a  scroll  and  chants: 

He  who  did  miracles  for  our  fathers,  and  who  redeemed  them 
from  bondage  unto  freedom,  may  he  redeem  us  soon  and  gather 
our  outcasts  from  the  four  ends  of  the  earth,  all  Israel  as  com- 
panions, and  let  us  say,  Amen. 

The  new  moon  of will  happen  on  the  —  — day  (or  days)  of 

the  week,  coming  to  us  and  all  Israel  for  good. 

May  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  he,  renew  it  for  us  and  all  his 
people,  the  house  of  Israel,  for  life  and  peace,  for  joy  and  gladness, 
for  salvation  and  comfort,  and  say  ye,  Amen.10 

In  the  German  ritual  a  requiem  for  the  soul's  of  Israel's 
martyrs  is  read  on  Sabbath  mornings  right  before  the 
second  Ashrc;  in  Western  Germany  only  on  the  Sabbaths 
before  Pentecost  and  before  the  Ninth  of  Ab;  under  the 
Polish  Minhag  on  all  Sabbaths  except  when  the  day,  if  a 
week-clay,  would  displace  the  penitential  Psalms,  and  ex- 
cept also  when  the  corning  New  Moon  (other  than  lyar  or 
Sivan)  is  announced: 

Father  of  mercy,  who  dwelleth  on  high!  May  he  in  his  powerful 
mercy  turn  to  the  saintly,  the  upright,  the  perfect,  to  those  holy 
communities  who  gave  up  their  lives  for  the  glory  of  his  name. 
"They  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives,  and  in  their  death 
they  were  not  parted;  they  were  swifter  than  eagles;  they  were 
stronger  than  lions"  (cmp.  2  Sam.  i:  23),  to  do  the  will  of  their 
Master,  the  wish  of  their  Rock.  May  our  God  remember  them 
for  good  with  the  other  just  men  of  the  world,  and  avenge  [before 
our  eyes]  the  vengeance  of  the  spilt  blood  of  his  servants  (cmp.  Ps. 
79:  10);  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  the  man  of  God 
(quoting  Deut.  32:  43).  And  by  the  hands  of  thy  servants,  the 
prophets,  it  is  written  thus  (quoting  Joel  4:  21).  And  in  thy  holy 
writings  it  is  said  (quoting  Ps.  79:  10;  Ps.  9:  13;  Ps.  no:  6,  7). 

On  four  days  of  the  year,  viz.,  the  eighth  of  Passover, 
the  second  of  Pentecost,  the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  the 
"Eighth  a  rest,"  the  Jews  of  the  German  ritual  "remember 
the  souls"  of  deceased  parents  and  relatives.  Those  whose 


220       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

parents  are  still  alive  take  no  part  in  the  exercises,  but 
generally  leave  the  Synagogue  for  the  time.  Each  prays 
by  himself  thus  for  a  dead  father: 

May  God  remember  the  soul  of  my  respected  father  (naming 
him)  who  has  gone  to  his  eternal  home;  on  whose  behalf  I  vow 
alms;  by  way  of  reward,  be  his  soul  bound  up  in  the  bundle  of  life 
(cmp.  i  Sam.  25:  29)  with  the  souls  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
Sarah,  Rebekah,  Rachel,  and  Leah,  and  of  all  other  righteous  men 
and  women  that  are  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  let  us  say,  Amen. 

A  similar  prayer  is  spoken  for  a  deceased  mother, 
one  more  comprehensive  for  deceased  grandparents  and 
other  relatives,  and  especially  for  such  as  may  have  become 
martyrs  for  the  faith,  the  only  change  being  in  the  designa- 
tion of  those  whose  souls  are  prayed  for.  In  many  con- 
gregations a  list  of  names  is  read  out  of  persons  who  have 
left  money  to  the  Synagogue  for  that  purpose,  or  for  whom 
their  surviving  relatives  make  donations,  and  prayers  for 
their  souls  in  a  different  form  are  pronounced  by  the  leader. 
The  above  in  memoriam  for  the  martyrs  forms  a  fitting  con- 
clusion. 

The  prayer  that  the  soul  of  the  parents  or  other  dead  kin- 
dred and  those  of  the  martyrs  for  Israel's  faith  may  be 
remembered  and  for  their  eternal  happiness,  is  traced  back 
to  the  Pesikta,  that  is,  to  the  seventh  century.  The  Mahzor 
Vitry  testifies  that  in  all  Germany,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  they  did  not  "set  aside  alms  for  the 
dead,"  that  is,  remember  them  with  vows  of  almsgiving, 
except  on  the  Day  of  Atonement.  But  in  going  over  the 
services  for  the  last  day  of  the  Passover  the  same  Mahzor 
says  that  they  only  "set  aside  alms  for  the  living/'alluding  to 
the  words,  "according  to  the  gift  of  his  hand,"  in  the  lesson 
for  the  day,  showing  that  he  meant  to  include  his  part  of 
France  with  Germany  in  the  custom  of  remembering  the 
dead  only  on  the  Day  of  Atonement.11 

We  have  lastly,  after  the  Additional  Prayer  on  Sabbaths 


OTHER  PROSE  COMPOSITIONS  221 

and  Holidays  and  after  the  full  Kaddish  that  follows  it,  a 
very  pretty  short  piece,  standing  half  way  between  prose 
and  poetry  (En  Kelohenu*) : 

None  is  like  our  God!  none  is  like  our  Lord;  none  is  like  our 
King;  none  is  like  our  Saviour.  Who  is  like  our  God?  Who  is, 
etc.  Wre  give  thanks  to  our  God;  we  give  thanks,  etc.  Blessed  be 
our  God!  blessed  be  our,  etc.  Thou  art  our  God;  thou  art  our  Lord; 
thou  art  our  King;  thou  art  our  Saviour;  thou  art  he,  before  whom 
our  fathers  offered  the  compound  of  incense. 

From  the  last  line  it  appears  that  the  whole  is  an  intro- 
duction to  Talmudic  pieces  which  follow.  The  first  of  them 
treats  of  the  composition  of  the  incense,  as  shown  in  a 
former  chapter.  But  the  first  five  lines  alone  have  been  set 
to  simple  music,  and  are  in  all  progressive  Synagogues  and 
in  Sabbath  schools  the  hymn  best  liked  because  most  easily 
and  readily  learned. 

Some  of  the  "minor  benedictions"  and  late  prose  prayers 
must  be  much  older  than  the  Talmudic  sage  who  first  ap- 
pears as  their  sponsor;  and  if  not  in  the  same  form,  at  least 
with  the  same  contents  in  slightly  different  phrase.  The 
prayer  which  our  Christian  neighbors  call  the  Lord's  Prayer 
professes  to  be  an  abridgment  of  devotions  then  current 
among  the  Jews,  these  being  deemed  too  long  and  too  full 
of  tautologies,  with  the  exception  of  the  fifth  petition,  which 
the  author  claims  as  new.  We  have  found  the  invocation, 
Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven,  in  two  compositions,  both 
of  which  are  given  in  this  chapter;  the  Kaddish  contains, 
with  slight  expansions,  Hallowed  be  thy  name,  and  thy 
Kingdom  come;  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  is  in  a  morn- 
ing benediction;  Deliver  us  from  evil,  in  the  first  prayer  in 
this  chapter,  and  the  doxology,  For  thine  is  the  Kingdom, 
etc.,  very  much  expanded  in  the  closing  "Benediction  of 
Song."  It  is  therefore  highly  probable  that  the  germs  of 
all  these  compositions  were  well-known  among  the  Jews 
at  as  early  an  age  as  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  perhaps  in  a 
form  not  greatly  differing  from  that  now  in  use. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  LATE  "POETRY" — GENERAL  PLAN 

IN  the  fifth  or  sixth  century,  while  Greek  was  still  the 
ruling  language  in  Palestine,  the  Greek  title  of  Poictcs  (poet) 
was  taken  by  Jews  who  wrote  hymns  for  public  worship, 
generally  men  who  led  in  prayer,  and  wished  to  enrich  the 
service  by  their  own  compositions.  We  have  found  in  the 
morning  benedictions  of  the  Shcma  and  in  the  Benediction 
of  Song  matter  which,  by  wealth  of  metaphors  and  alpha- 
betic order  and  rhyme,  indicates  a  conscious  intent  to  write 
poetry.  But  the  matter  has  been  so  thoroughly  embodied 
in  the  old  liturgy  that  in  the  eye  of  the  Jewish  masses  it  is 
deemed  as  sacred  and  obligatory  as  the  first  groundwork 
of  the  benedictions. 

But  it  is  very  different  with  later  productions  written  or 
coming  into  vogue  after  the  two  Rituals  had  taken  form, 
and  perhaps  with  some  compositions  of  even  older  date. 

Poictcs  took  in  Hebrew  and  Aramaic  the  form  Paietan, 
and  by  treating  this  word  as  if  the  t  was  a  part  of  the  root, 
the  noun  Piyut  (plural  Piyutini)  was  formed,  after  the  laws 
of  Hebrew  grammar,  to  denote  those  parts  of  the  service 
which  share  in  the  following  properties: 

i.  The  recital  is  not  obligatory;  it  is  well-known  that 
those  in  the  German  are  wholly  different  from  those  in  the 
Sefardic  ritual;  that  even  those  used  in  Poland  differ  often 
from  those  of  Western  Germany.  In  the  early  morning  ser- 
vice (Hashkama)  for  Sabbath  and  joyous  Festivals  they 
are  omitted;  in  any  emergency  all  Piyutim  are  dropped 
rather  than  a  line  of  the  old  service.  Yet  a  few  of  these 
pieces  have  by  their  contents,  or  by  the  story  of  their 

(222) 


THE  LATE  "POETRY"— GENERAL  PLAN  22$ 

origin,  or  by  a  striking  tune,  become  dearer  to  the  un- 
learned than  the  oldest  and  most  solemn  devotions. 

2.  There   is  generally  an  alphabetic  arrangement,   very 
often  ending  with  an  acrostic  of  the  author's  name  and  hav- 
ing either  a  rhyme  or  a  phrase  recurring  in  each  line.    Often 
the  task  of  poetical  form  is  made  still  harder  by  working 
into  each  stanza  running  parts  from  Scripture  with  which 
the  author's  lines  have  to  rhyme.    The  style  is  marked  by 
a  preference  of  rare  over  common  words.     Instead  of  the 
old  parallelism  in  which  the  Bible  poets  clothe  each  thought 
in  two  garbs,  the  later  poet  may  find  as  many  as  twenty- 
two  forms  for  it.1 

3.  The  Piyntim,  in  the  narrower  sense,  are  not  written 
for  every  day  or  every  Sabbath,  but  for  the  Festivals  or  for 
certain  named  Sabbaths  of  the  year.     There  are  also  the 
Sclihoth,  or  Forgivenesses  (see  Ch.  XII),  the  Kinoth,  or 
Dirges,  for  the  Ninth  of  Ab,  the  Hosannas  for  the  Feast  of 
Huts.     Yet  some  of  the  best  of  the  medieval  hymns  have 
found  their  way  into  the  daily  or  weekly  service. 

The  Jews  of  the  German  ritual  have  in  their  Siddur  or 
Tcfilla  the  services  for  week-day,  Sabbath,  and  New  Moon 
and  the  Prayer  for  Festivals,  with  the  devotions  for  the 
home.  Beside  this  they  have  .their  Mahzor,  which  contains 
the  old  parts  of  the  service,  the  "lessons,"  and  the  Piyutim 
for  all  the  Festivals,  which,  translated  and  conveniently 
arranged,  will  run  up  to  from  five  to  nine  octavo  volumes. 
The  "poetries"  for  particular  Sabbaths  are  found  in  the  Col 
Bo  ("all-in-it")  editions  of  the  Siddur. 

The  Sefardim  follow  a  different  plan.  Though  men  of 
their  branch  of  the  Jewish  race  have  written  most  of  our 
religious  poetry,  they  have  adopted  but  few  pieces  into  their 
liturgy;  for  the  Feasts  of  Passover, Weeks,  and  Huts, so  few, 
that  these  can  be  put  conveniently  into  the  daily  Prayer 
Book.  On  the  other  hand,  everything  pertaining  to  the 
Days  of  Memorial  and  Atonement  is  left  out  of  it,  and  the 
second  and  third  parts  of  their  service  book  contain  all  the 


224       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

exercises  for  these  days,  both  the  old,  or  obligatory,  and 
the  new  and  poetic  parts. 

There  was  at  first  much  misgiving  about  introducing  this 
poetry  into  the  body  of  a  benediction,  of  those  which  pre- 
cede and  follow  the  Shema  or  of  those  forming  the  Amida, 
for,  unless  the  piece  is  fully  akin  to  the  matter  of  the  bene- 
diction, it  is  an  interruption,  and  all  interruptions  are  here 
strictly  forbidden.  The  Sefardim  have  lived  pretty  well  up 
to  this  principle;  most  of  their  Piyutim  are  inserted  among 
the  morning  hymns  (Zemiroth)  or  after  the  lessons.  Only 
the  Selihoth,  or  poetic  prayers  for  forgiveness  of  sin,  and 
a  rhymed  account  of  the  Temple  Atonement  service  have 
been  received  with  common  consent  into  the  "Sanctity  of 
the  Day,"  on  the  Day  of  Atonement,  to  which  they  are 
undoubtedly  germane.  The  few  other  "poetries"  that  have 
penetrated  into  the  Amida  still  meet  with  protest  from  the 
editors  of  the  service  book  in  the  remark:  It  would  be 
better  to  read  all  this  after  the  Prayer  is  over. 

The  Germans  on  the  contrary  have  thrown  aside  all 
scruples  on  the  subject,  inserting  the  greater  part  of  such 
matter  in  the  Prayer  (morning  or  Additional)  when  repeated 
by  the  leader,  mostly  as  aft  introduction  to  the  Thrice-Holy; 
and  much  of  the  other  poetry  for  Festivals  or  special  Sab- 
baths is  worked  into  benedictions  before  and  after  the 
Shema. 

There  is  quite  a  system  by  which  these  "poetries"  are 
wrought  in.  First,  in  the  ten  evenings,  counting  double 
days,  of  Passover,  Pentecost,  and  Succoth,  unless  it  be  a 
Friday  night,  there  are  a  few  poetic  lines  before  the  close 
of  the  first  and  second  benediction;  again,  a  little  before  the 
verse,  "Who  is  like  thee,"  and  before  "The  Lord  will  reign," 
and  again  before  the  close  of  the  benediction,  which  is 
modified  "King,  Rock  of  Israel  and  his  Redeemer,"  and 
lastly  before  "Blessed  be  thou,  etc.,  who  spreadest,"  etc. 
Too  much  respect  was  paid  to  the  services  of  the  Solemn 
Days  to  break  them  up  in  this  way.  In  the  morning  all 


THE  LA  TE  "  POETRY"— GENERAL  PLAN  225 

festive  days  fared  a  little  more  alike.  After  the  first  sen- 
tence of  the  first  benediction  (see  Ch.  IV),  "Who  formest 
(Jotzer)  light,"  etc.,  there  is  a  poetic  piece  known  as  Jotzer; 
after  the  Thrice-Holy  and  before  the  Ofannim  (Wheels) 
say  their  "Blessed"  there  is  another  piece,  the  Of  an.  In  the 
next  benediction  (Ahaba,  or  Love)  a  piece  is  inserted  near 
the  end,  known  as  Ahaba.  In  the  benediction  which  follows 
the  Shema  the  word  "beside"  (Zulath)  at  the  end  of  a  para- 
graph gives  its  name  to  the  piece  there  inserted;  last,  on  the 
Passover  and  the  Sabbaths  between  it  and  Pentecost  there 
is  Geulla  (redemption),  so  named  because  it  comes  right 
before  the  closing  words,  "Blessed,  etc.,  he  has  redeemed 
Israel."  But  on  the  Solemn  Days  the  Shema  and  the 
Prayer  are  so  far  respected  that  the  service  goes  on  with- 
out interruption  between  the  former  and  the  latter. 

The  German  Mahzor  has  also  poetic  pieces  on  all  Festi- 
vals in  the  repeated  morning  Prayer,  except  on  the  first  of 
the  Passover  and  eighth  of  the  Feast  (because  of  the  long 
prayers  for  Dew  and  Rain  in  the  Musaf  of  those  days)  and 
except  on  the  "Joy  of  the  Law,"  when  all  spare  time  is  given 
to  the  lessons.  It  has  them  in  the  Additional  service  on  the 
Solemn  Days,  and  on  the  two  days  named  in  the  second 
benediction,  where  dew  or  rain  are  dwelt  on,  and  on  Pente- 
cost, where  the  613  precepts  are  set  forth  in  a  sort  of  dog- 
gerel in  the  fourth  benediction.  On  the  Atonement  Day 
there  are  a  few  short  Piyutim  in  the  two  afternoon  services. 

The  pieces  inserted  in  the  Prayer  are  known  as  Keroboth, 
being  "Approaches"  to  the  Thrice-Holy,  and  are  arranged 
according  to  a  pretty  steady  plan.  After  chanting  the  first 
benediction  to  a  point  near  its  end  the  leader  opens  thus: 

Out  of  the  secret  lore  of  the  learned  and  wise  and  from  the 
knowledge  taught  by  the  well-informed,  I  will  open  my  mouth, 
etc., 

varying  the  last  words  according  to  the  character  of  the 
feast.    Then  there  are  a  few  rhythmic  lines,  which,  on  the 
15 


226        JE WISH  SER  VICES  IN  SYNA  GOG  UE  AND  HOME 

Solemn  Days  at  least,  refer  to  Abraham.  Near  the  end 
of  the  second  benediction  there  are  other  lines  which  on 
these  days  refer  to  Isaac,  and  connect  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  with  the  summer  dews.  As  the  Kedusha  takes  the 
place  of  the  third  benediction,  the  poetical  pieces  follow  at 
once  after  the  close  of  "Powers,"  and  the  first  of  these 
generally  refers  in  some  way  to  Jacob,  the  simple  man. 
Then  the  verses,  "The  Lord  will  reign  forever"  (Ps.  146: 
10)  and  "Thou  art  holy"  (Ps.  22:  4),  follow;  and  then  a 
greater  or  lesser  number  of  detached  pieces,  the  last  of 
which  is  known  as  the  Silluk,  or  ascent,  from  the  line  which 
introduces  it,  "Now  may  the  sanctification  ascend  to  thee, 
for  thon,  our  God,  art  King." 

This  leads  directly  to  the  words  of  the  Kedusha:  As  it  is 
written  by  the  hands  of  thy  prophets  (see  Ch.  VI,  p.  119). 
On  the  Day  of  Atonement,  in  three  of  the  services,  the  Sil- 
luk is  preceded  by  pieces  referring  to  angels,  who  sing 
"Holy"  while  Israel  cry  out  "Blessed." 

On  the  three  Festivals  the  Kedusha  and  the  benedictions 
which  follow  it  are  no  further  interspersed  by  poetry.  But 
on  the  Solemn  Days  there  are  pieces  to  be  recited  between 
the  responses,  and  other  pieces  after  the  Kedusha  and  before 
the  close  of  the  benediction  "The  Holy  King."  The  former 
are  a  serious  interruption,  leading  to  great  disorder,  and 
have  in  late  years  been  dropped  in  many  highly  orthodox 
communities. 

In  the  fourth  benediction  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  there 
are  for  each  of  the  services  a  number  of  Selihoth,  among 
them  the  Pizmon,  with  its  burden.  Those  for  Neila  are 
fixed,  as  well  as  for  the  preceding  night  service;  those  for 
the  three  other  services  are  given  to  choose  from  according 
to  the  time  on  hand.  In  most  Russian  congregations  none 
are  said  in  these  services.  In  Musaf  of  Atonement  Day  the 
account  of  the  Temple  service  which  comes  before  the  Seli- 
hoth is  very  dry  and  prosaic,  having  nothing  but  its  alpha- 
betic arrangement  in  common  with  these  "poetries;"  but  a 


THE  LATE  "POETRY"— GENERAL  PLAN 


227 


number  of  short  and  deeply  melancholy  pieces  lead  over 
from  the  "Service"  to  the  Selihoth.  The  dirge  about  the 
Ten  Martyrs  is  inserted  in  the  "Order  of  Confession"  by  the 
Poles  in  Musaf,  by  the  West  Germans  in  Minha.  Poetry  has 
also  been  written  to  introduce  the  Kingdom,  Remembrance, 
and  Shofar  verses  on  the  Day  of  Memorial;  these  have 
on  account  of  the  great  obscurity  of  the  language  and 
style  lately  fallen  into  disu-se. 

For  the  early  morning  service  on  the  days  between 
Memorial  and  Atonement  and  on  a  few  mornings  before 
the  former,  Selihoth  are  said,  partly  the  same  as  on  the 
Day  of  Atonement,  partly  other  compositions  of  similar 
import;  and  there  are  again  others  on  the  public  fasts  other 
than  the  Ninth  of  Ab. 

On  the  Feast  of  Huts,  right  after  the  "Additional 
Prayer,"  alphabetic  hymns  ending  with  Hosha'na  (save 
now!)  are  chanted,  a  special  one  for  each  of  six  days,  with 
a  second  common  to  all  days.  There  are  seven  like  hymns 
(embracing  most  of  the  six)  recited  on  the  seventh  day; 
also  the  common  second;  also  other  poems,  which  gradu- 
ally turn  off  into  Messianic  hopes  and  desires,  and  which 
culminate  in  the  burden,  "A  voice  brings  news,  brings  news, 
and  says!" 

For  the  first  seven  Hosha'na  hymns  we  find  in  the  Mahzor 
Vitry  a  wholly  different  set  from  that  now  in  use;  the  other 
ones  are  about  the  same  as  now.  The  common  second 
was  always  distasteful  to  the  writer  for  what  seemed  to  him 
its  Christian  tinge;  it  brings  out  boldly  how  God  went  with 
Israel  into  exile,  and  how  in  delivering  Israel  from  exile  he 
also  delivered  himself;  but  this  hymn  is  of  undoubted  an- 
tiquity, and  based  on  a  passage  of  the  Palestinian  Talmud. 

There  is  a  motif  pervading  the  "poetry"  for  each  of  the 
Festivals,  or  some  parts  of  it.  Thus,  on  the  first  two  days  of 
the  Passover  and  on  the  Sabbath  in  its  middle  days,  that  in 
the  benedictions  of  the  Shema  is  based  on  the  Song  of 
Songs,  in  its  allegoric  meaning  of  the  love  between  God  and 


228       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN.  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

the  community  of  Israel.  On  the  seventh  and  eighth  of  the 
Passover,  the  Red  Sea  Song  is  the  underlying  text;  on  the 
Feast  of  Weeks,  the  Ten  Commandments;  on  the  first  two 
days  of  the  Feast  of  Huts,  the  Hut,  the  Hallel  Psalms,  and 
the  four  species  of  trees  (citron,  palm,  myrtle,  and  willow) 
are  combined  into  one  theme.  On  the  Eighth  of  the  Feast 
there  is  very  little  poetry  besides  the  prayer  for  rain;  the 
few  longer  pieces  on  the  Ninth  (Joy  of  the  Law)  are  based 
on  the  lesson  of  the  day,  Moses  blessing  the  tribes. 

On  the  Days  of  Memorial  and  Atonement  the  most  strik- 
ing note  is  that  of  the  Judgment,  which  is  believed  to  be 
prepared  on  the  former  and  sealed  on  the  latter.  God  as 
King,  who  is  greeted  with  the  sound  of  the  cornet,  and  who 
himself  blows  the  great  cornet,  runs  through  many  com- 
positions of  the  former  day;  God  setting  mercy  above  judg- 
ment, through  many  of  the  latter.  Several  pieces  on  the 
quality  of  justice  and  the  Day  of  Judgment  belong  to  both 
days. 

One  of  the  oldest  and  most  fertile  writers  of  poetry  for  the 
Festivals  is  R.  El'azar,  surnamed  Kalir.2  His  compositions 
are  full  of  manifold  self-imposed  difficulties,  and  through 
his  disregard  of  grammar,  use  of  rare  words,  elliptic  style, 
and  running  allusions  to  the  Aggadta,  they  can  hardly  be 
understood  by  even  good  Hebrew  scholars  except  after 
careful  study.  They  are  thus  far  from  edifying.  Kalir  lived 
in  the  ninth  century,  but  in  an  unhistoric  age  his  admirers 
turned  him  into  a  Sage  of  ante-Mishna  times;  and  thus  the 
French  and  German  Jews  felt  justified  in  disobeying  the 
rule  of  the  Talmud,  that  no  one  should  ask  for  his  needs 
in  the  first  three  benedictions;  for  how  could  the  Baby- 
lonians forbid  the  recital  of  hymns  which  the  foremost  dis- 
ciple of  Rabban  Johanan  ben  Zaccai  had  composed?3  Thus 
not  only  his  "poetries"  but  those  of  his  successors  were 
crowded  into  Festival  Prayers  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
"Sanctity  of  the  Name"  in  the  Atonement  morning  service 


THE  LATE  "  POETRY"— GENERAL  PLAN  229 

takes  up  nearly  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  even  on  Pentecost 
or  the  Memorial  Day  half  an  hour  or  three-quarters. 

Much  of  the  so-called  "poetry"  for  the  Day  of  Atonement 
is  free  from  obscurity,  but  it  is  bare  of  meaning,  and  shows 
on  its  face  that  the  only  object  of  the  writer  was  to  fill  out 
time.  Thus  the  Silluk  in  the  morning  service  of  that  day 
begins  with  a  line  for  which  a  good  English  equivalent 
would  be,  Who  can  tell  the  terror  of  thy  truth?  followed 
by  twenty-one  other  lines,  of  which  the  next  has  three 
words  beginning  with  s,  instead  of  tell,  terror,  truth,  and  so 
back  to  three  words  with  a.  There  are  however  composi- 
tions of  much  higher  value,  some  of  them  true  poetry 
touching  the  finest  chords  of  the  human  heart.  Jehuda 
Hallevi,  writing  in  Arabic  Spain  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century,  takes  the  highest  rank,  especially  by  his  elegy, 
"Zion,"  for  the  Ninth  of  Ab,  which  is  however  not  now  in 
use  in  either  ritual.  Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol  is  famed  mainly 
by  the  "Song  of  Unity,"  for  the  seven  days  of  the  week, 
with  many  fine  passages,  but  rather  too  much  of  Aristo- 
telian reflection  on  the  infinite.  The  "Song  of  Glory," 
ascribed  to  Samuel  ben  Kalonymos,  is  rather  too  bold  in 
its  anthropomorphism.  There  are  fine  stanzas  in  the  Seli- 
hoth,  many  of  which  are  very  old;  the  gems  are  collected 
in  Neila. 

Some  of  the  best  known  Piyutim  will  be  given  as  samples 
in  the  next  chapter  in  whole  or  in  part.  Other  passages 
here  and  there  are  quite  inspiring  to  the  Israelite  who  is 
thoroughly  versed  in  the  Aggadta,  and  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  chips  of  Cabbala  afloat  among  the  uninitiated;  but 
they  fall  flat  on  the  ears  of  those  for  whom  it  all  has  to  be 
translated  and  explained.  Thus,  when  the  poet  speaks  of 
men  from  whom  God  accepts  praise,  weak  mortal  men  who 
breathe  out  their  soul,  and  he  gives  to  that  soul  its  five 
names  in  the  rising  scale  (nefesh,  ruah,  ha'ia,  neshama, 
fchida)  before  he  lets  it  die  through  justice,  only  to  live 


230      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

again  through  mercy,  he  thrills  the  heart  of  the  well- 
posted  Jew,  for  whom  these  words  have  a  meaning  and  a 
familiar  sound;  but  to  all  others  it  is  vox  ct  prccterea  nihil.  Of 
the  Selihoth  some  are  sublime,  most  of  them  expressive  of 
deep  feeling,  and  they  are  all  written  in  plain,  intelligible 
speech.  In  the  different  rituals  the  same  Seliha  may  be 
employed  on  different  occasions.  Thus,  "Judge  of  all  the 
earth,"  of  which  the  burden  is  "like  the  burnt  offering  of  the 
morn,  which  is  for  a  daily  offering,"  is  in  the  German 
ritual  the  last  Seliha  in  the  morning  service  of  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  while  the  Sefardim  have  it  on  New  Year  after 
the  morning  hymns. 

There  are  some  Hebrew  and  some  Aramaic  hymns  closely 
bound  up  with  the  reading  of  the  "lessons"  which  will  be 
mentioned  hereafter  in  connection  with  those  lessons. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

SAMPLES  OF  POST-BIBLICAL  POETRY 

SOME  unknown  hand  at  a  date  unknown  turned  the 
thirteen  articles  of  the  creed  as  drawn  up  by  Maimonides 
into  measure  and  rhyme.  Denoting  full  vowels  by  -,  the 
Sheva  mobile  by  s-/,  each  half  line  runs:  -  -^ ^ . 

One  rhyme,  at  the  end  of  the  whole  line  of  twenty  syl- 
lables, runs  through  all  thirteen  of  these  lines.  This 
poem  (Yigdal)  is  often  sung  at  the  end  of  services  to  a  well- 
known  air.  Mrs.  Henry  Lucas  renders  it  thus  in  her  Songs 
of  Zion: 

The  living  God  we  praise,  exalt,  adore! 
He  was,  He  is,  He  will  be  evermore. 

No  unity  like  unto  His  can  be, 
Eternal,  inconceivable,  is  He. 

No  form  or  shape  has  th'  Incorporeal  One, 
Most  holy  beyond  all  comparison. 

He  was,  ere  aught  was  made  in  heaven  or  earth, 
But  His  existence  has  no  date  or  birth. 

Lord  of  the  Universe  is  He  proclaimed, 
Teaching  His  power  to  all  His  hand  has  framed. 

He  gave  His  gift  of  prophecy  to  those 

In  whom  He  gloried,  whom  He  loved  and  chose. 

No  prophet  ever  yet  has  filled  the  place 
Of  Moses,  who  beheld  God  face  to  face. 

Through  him  (the  faithful  in  his  house)  the  Lord 
The  law  of  truth  to  Israel  did  accord. 

(231) 


232       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

This  law  God  will  not  alter,  will  not  change 
For  any  other  through  time's  utmost  range. 

He  knows  and  heeds  the  secret  thoughts  of  man. 
He  saw  the  end  of  all  ere  aught  began. 

With  love  and  grace  doth  He  the  righteous  bless. 
He  metes  out  evil  unto  wickedness. 

He  at  the  last  will  His  anointed  send, 

Those  to  redeem,  who  hope  and  wait  the  end. 

God  will  the  dead  to  life  again  restore, 
Praised  be  His  glorious  name  for  evermore.1 

Adon  Olam  has  ten  lines,  each  hemistich  built  thus:    ^ 

._,  ^ •  a  single  rhyme  runs  through  it.     It  is  read  or 

sung  in  the  Synagogue  at  the  beginning  or  end  of  services; 
also  spoken  in  the  night  prayer  on  going  to  bed. 

The  version  below  is  pretty  faithful: 

Lord  of  the  world,  enthroned  as  King, 

Before  each  creature  had  its  frame. 

When  by  his  word  he  fashioned  all, 
His  works  did  him  as  King  proclaim. 

And  when  all  things  fade  into  naught, 
The  fearful  still  will  reign  the  same. 

It's  he  that  is;  it's  he  that  was; 

He  will  be  in  eternal  light. 

And   he   is  one,   there's   second   none 
With  him  to  liken  or  unite, 

Without  beginning,  without  end. 

His  is  dominion,  strength,  and  might. 

He  is  my  rock,  my  Saviour  lives; 

Rock   of   my    strength,    in   trouble's   night 

He  is  my  banner,  my  retreat; 

My  blissful  cup  midst  bitter  cries. 

Into  his  hand  I  trust  my  soul, 
When  I  lie  down,  and  when  I  rise. 

And  with  my  soul  my  body  too; 

I  fear  not  when  I  close  my  eyes. 


SAMPLES  OF  POST  BIBLICAL  POETRY  233 

The  last  line  is  rendered  somewhat  freely  and  with  a  view 
to  the  use  of  this  poem  as  part  of  the  night  prayer.2 

The  "Reception  of  the  Sabbath"  in  its  modern  sense  by 
eight  Psalms  (see  Ch.  XIII)  arose  from  a  modern  poem 
round  which  the  Psalms  gathered.  The  author's  name  is 
signed  in  acrostic,  SH-e-L-oM-o-H  H-a-L-e-V-I,  to  eight 
out  of  the  nine  quatrains.  He  wrote  at  Safet  in  Pales- 
tine about  1500,  but  was  born  in  Granada.  His  fame  rests 
on  the  one  couplet  and  nine  quatrains.  Mrs.  Lucas  thus 
renders  the  burden  and  four  of  the  nine  stanzas,  extending 
each  to  five  lines: 

Come  forth,  my  friend,  the  bride  to  meet; 
Come,  O  my  friend,  the  Sabbath  greet! 

"Observe  ye"  and  "remember"  still 
The  Sabbath — thus  His  holy  will 
God  in  one  utterance  did  proclaim. 
The  Lord  is  one,  and  one  His  name 
To  his  renown  and  praise  and  fame. 
Come  forth,  etc. 

Greet  we  the  Sabbath  at  our  door, 
Well-spring  of  blessing  evermore, 
With  everlasting  gladness  fraught, 
Of  old  ordained,  divinely  taught, 
Last  in  creation,  first  in  thought. 
Come  forth,  etc. 

Arouse  thyself,  awake  and  shine, 
For,  lo!  it  comes,  the  light  divine. 
Give  forth  a  song,  for  over  thee 
The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
Revealed  in  beauty  speedily. 
Come  forth,  etc. 

Crown  of  thy  husband,  come  in  peace, 

Come,  bidding  toil  and  trouble  cease. 

With  ioy  and  cheerfulness  abide 

Among  thy  people  true  and  tried, 

Thy  faithful  people — come,  O  bride! 

Come  forth,  my  friend,  the  bride  to  meet, 
Come,  O  my  friend,  the  Sabbath  greet! 


234       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  last  words  of  the  last  stanza,  "Come,  O  Bride,"  are  as 
old  as  the  third  century.8 

Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol,  who  lived  in  Arab  Spain  in  the 
eleventh  century,  wrote  Hebrew  rhymed  poetry  in  easy  and 
flowing  language.  His  "Crown  of  Kingship"  (Kethcr  MaV- 
chutli),  a  long,  poetic  reflection  on  man's  weakness  before 
God,  was  not  written  for  the  Synagogue,  though  it  is  read 
by  many  persons  of  both  rituals  on  the  night  of  Atonement. 
The  following  specimens  are  taken  from  the  "Song  of 
Unity,"  written  by  him  for  the  Sabbath;  he  wrote  similar 
songs  for  the  other  days  of  the  week.  These  are  read  in 
German  and  Polish  congregations  at  the  end  of  the  morn- 
ing service.  The  translation  is  pretty  literal: 

On  the  seventh  day  thou  tookest  rest: 

The  Sabbath  hence  by  thee  was  blessed. 

Glory  o'er  all  thy  handiwork  is  spread: 

Hence  by  thy  saints  thy  praise  is  always  said. 

Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  shaped  and  formed  each  thing, 

The  living  God  and  everlasting  King. 

Upon  thy  servants  from  the  days  of  old, 

Thy  kindness  and  thy  grace  were  manifold. 

Thou  didst  begin  in  Egypt  to  make  known, 

How  great  thy  power,  and  how  high  thy  throne 

Above   their   gods,   when   thou   didst   strike 

Their  rulers  and  their  feeble  gods  alike. 

When  thou  didst  part  the  sea,  thy  people  saw 

Thy  mighty  hand,  and  they  were  filled  with  awe. 


With  light  of  countenance  bless  thy  people  still! 
Who  ever  anxious  arc  to  do  thy  will. 
And  in  thy  will,  do  with  our  wish  comply, 
We're  all  thy  people;  always  to  thee  nigh. 
Hast  thou  not  chosen  us  for  thine  own  treasure? 
Pour  on  thy  people  blessings  without  measure. 

P»ut  few  poems  of  the  greatest  of  Hebrew  medieval  poets, 
Jchucla  Hallevi,  are  in  the  liturgy.  There  is,  however,  a 
little  gem,  written  to  be  sung  on  the  first  (or  the  seventh) 


SAMPLES  OF  POST-BIBLICAL  POETRY  235 

morning  of  the  Passover,  before  the  words,  "the  redeemed 
sang  a  new  song"  in  the  Geulla.  It  is  also  sung  on  a  Sab- 
bath morning  when  a  circumcision  takes  place  at  the  Syna- 
gogue. Mrs.  Lucas  renders  it  thus: 

When  as  a  wall  the  sea 

In  heaps  uplifted  lay, 
A  new  song  unto  Thee 

Sang  the  redeemed  that  day. 

Thou  didst  in  his  deceit 

O'erwhelm  the  Egyptian's  feet, 
While  Israel's  footsteps  fleet 

How  beautiful  were  they! 

Jeshurun!  all  who  see 

Thy  glory  cry  to  thee: 
"Who  like  thy  God  can  be?" 

Thus  even  our  foes  did  say. 

O !  let  thy  banner  soar 

The  scattered  remnant  o'er, 
And  gather  them  once  more 

Like  corn  on  harvest-day, 

Who  bear  through  all  their  line 

Thy  covenant's  holy  sign, 
And  to  Thy  name  divine 

Are  sanctified  alway. 

Let  all  the  world  behold 

Their  token,  prized  of  old, 
Who  on  their  garment's  fold 

The  thread  of  blue  display. 

Be  then  the  truth  made  known 

For  whom,  and  whom  alone, 
The  twisted  fringe  is  shown, 

The  covenant  kept  this  day. 

O!  let  them,  sanctified, 

Once  more  with  Thee  abide, 
Their  sun  shine  far  and  wide, 

And  chase  the  clouds  away. 


236       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  well-beloved  declare 

Thy  praise  in  song  and  prayer: 

"Who  can  with  Thee  compare, 
O  Lord  of  Hosts?''  they  say. 

When  as  a  wall,  etc. 

The  Hosha'na  hymn  for  the  third  day  of  the  Feast  is 
highly  prized  by  the  Hasidim  as  representing  in  its  first 
part  Israel  as  a  woman  faithful  to  God  and  suffering  cheer- 
fully for  his  sake.  There  is  neither  rhyme  nor  meter,  only 
the  limitation  of  the  alphabet. 

Oin  ani  Horna  may  be  rendered  thus,  representing  the 
Hebrew  letters  by  those  corresponding  in  English.  (The 
change  of  person  is  as  in  the  original.): 

Am  firm  as  brazen  walls, 

Bright  as  the  midday  sun! 

Gone  into  exile,  she's 

Daring  as  tallest  palm. 

How  death  she  meets  for  thee, 

When  she's  to  slaughter  borne, 

Zealous  foes  around  her! 

Held  fast  in  thy  embrace, 

Toiling  beneath  the  yoke, 

In  love  she  acclaims  thee  One. 

Kept  down  in  foreign  lands,  she 

Learns  to  fear  thee  more. 

Maltreated  sore  by  men. 

Nor  free  from  pain  and  blows, 

Still  under  heavy  loads, 

On  steps  the  tempest  tossed; 

People  freed  by  Tobiah  (Moses), 

Celestial  flock  of  lambs. 

Quick  hosts  of  Jacob's  seed 

Resounding  with  thy  name. 

Shouting  Hosha'na  loud. 

Thy  help  they  lean  upon, 

Hosha'na! 

The  hymn  shows  very  little  literary  skill,  but  every  word 
and  letter  of  it  were  felt  and  meant.  There  is  no  clue  to  the 


SAMPLES  OF  POST-BIBLICAL  POETRY  237 

author.  Another  hymn  takes  its  place  in  the  Mahzor  Vitry; 
hence,  it  probably  was  the  product  of  persecution  in  the 
fourteenth  century. 

Of  the  Piyutim  in  the  narrower  sense  the  most  proper  is 
the  "Ascent"  (Silluk)  to  the  Thrice-Holy  in  the  Addi- 
tional for  the  New  Year,  composed  by  R.  Amnon  of  Mainz 
(Moguntia)  in  the  twelfth  century;  not  only  on  account  of 
its  stirring  contents,  but  on  account  of  the  sad  fate  of  its 
author,  who  read  it,  when  it  was  heard  for  the  first  time, 
while  bleeding  to  death  from  cruel  wounds. 

After  the  introductory  words: 

"To  thee  ascends  holiness,  for  thou,  O  God,  art  King," 
U-nethanne  tokef  (so  it  is  named  from  its  initial  words), 
begins: 

We  will  tell  the  powerful  praise  of  the  day,  which  is  dreaded 
and  fearful;  on  it  thy  Kingdom  will  be  exalted,  and  thy  throne 
laid  firmly  in  kindness;  and  thou  wilt  sit  thereon  in  truth.  Truly 
thou  art  the  judge,  he  that  rebukes,  he  that  knoweth;  thou  art  the 
witness,  the  writer,  and  he  that  sealeth,  and  telleth,  and  counteth. 
Thou  wilt  bring  all  that  is  forgotten  to  mind,  and  open  the  book  of 
remembrance;  it  reads  itself;  the  hand  and  seal  of  every  man  attests 
it.  The  great  cornet  is  blown;  and  the  still  small  voice  is  heard; 
then  the  angels  are  frightened;  trembling  and  terror  takes  hold  oi 
them;  they  say,  this  is  the  day  of  judgment,  to  visit  justice  upon 
the  hosts  on  high;  for  they  are  not  pure  in  thy  sight  in  the  judg- 
ment. All  that  come  into  the  world  thou  passest  before  thee  like 
lambs;  as  the  shepherd  examines  his  flock,  and  lets  his  sheep  pass 
under  his  staff,  thus  thou  bnngest  them  along,  telling  and  counting, 
and  thou  visitest  the  soul  of  all  that  liveth,  and  cuttest  out  the 
destiny  of  every  creature,  and  writest  the  sentence  of  each 

On  the  New  Year  they  are  inscribed,  and  on  the  Fast  of  Atone- 
ment the  seal  is  affixed:  how  many  shall  pass  away,  and  how  many 
shall  be  born;  who  may  live,  and  who  must  die;  whose  end  has 
come,  whose  end  is  not  yet;  who  is  to  perish  in  fire,  and  who  in 
water;  who  by  the  sword,  and  who  by  famine;  who  through  earth- 
quake, and  who  through  pestilence;  who  shall  rest,  and  who  shall 
move;  who  shall  be  quiet,  and  who  shall  be  torn  along;  who  shall 
have  peace,  and  who  shall  be  chastised;  who  shall  be  high,  and 


238        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

who  shall  be  humbled;  who  shall  grow  rich,  and  who  become 
poor. 

But  repentance  and  prayer  and  charity — turn  the  evil  sentence. 
For  as  thy  name,  so  is  thy  excellence;  hard  to  provoke  and  easy 
to  please;  for  thou  dost  not  desire  the  death  of  him  that  is  guilty; 
but  that  he  may  turn  from  his  ways  and  live.  Even  to  his  dying 
day  thou  waitest  for  him;  when  he  turns  back,  thou  receivest  him 
at  once.  Truly  thou  art  their  creator  and  thou  knowest  their 
nature,  even  that  they  are  flesh  and  blood;  as  for  man,  his  founda- 
tion is  in  the  dust,  and  his  end  is  dust;  with  his  life  he  earns  his 
bread;  he  is  likened  to  the  broken  potsherd,  to  dried-up  grass,  to 
the  withering  blossom,  to  the  passing  shadow  to  the  cloud  that 
has  vanished,  to  the  wind  that  is  stilled,  to  the  whirling  dust,  to 
the  winged  dream: 

But  thou  art  the  King,  the  living,  everlasting  God. 

Thy  years  have  no  goal,  thy  lengthened  days  no  end;  none  can 
measure  the  chariot  of  thy  glory,  nor  explain  the  mystery  of  thy 
name;  thy  name  is  proper  to  thee,  and  thou  befittest  thy  name; 
and  our  name  thou  hast  called  after  thy  name. 

There  is  no  trifling  with  the  alphabet,  no  acrostic  of  the 
author's  name,  no  attempt  at  measure,  and  but  a  few  rhymes 
in  the  first  few  lines. 

In  the  Polish  ritual  R.  Amnon's  composition  is  recited 
also  in  the  Additional  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  instead  of 
the  very  weak  "Ascent"  which  the  congregations  of  West- 
ern Germany  have  retained  for  that  occasion. 

Among  the  dirges  for  the  Ninth  of  Ab  in  the  German 
ritual,  the  one  best  known,  mainly  on  account  of  its  plain- 
tive but  highly  rhythmical  air,  is  Eli  Tzion,  written  in  short 
couplets,  the  first  of  which,  rendered  pretty  faithfully  in 
the  original  meter,  reads  thus: 

Cry  loud  for  Zion  and  her  towns,  like  women  in  their  sore  travail, 
Or  maid,  who  for  her  murdered  swain  sets  up  her  bitter,  piercing 

wail. 

Both  rituals  have  a  long  composition  showing  how  sad 
the  difference  between  exodus  and  exile. 

Of  the  thirty  odd  couplets  (each  of  which  is  here  drawn 
out  into  six  lines)  the  first,  second,  and  last  follow: 


SAMPLES  OF  POST- BIBLICAL  POETRY  339 

Fire  is  kindled  in  my  breast 

At  the  thought  of  times  so  blessed. 

When  from  Egypt  land  I  start. 

But  I  raise  my  saddest  lay 

At  the  thought  of  that  dire  day, 

When  from  Salem  I  must  part. 

Moses  sings  on  sacred  spot, 
Song  that  ne'er  shall  be  forgot, 
When  from  Egypt  land  I  start; 
Jeremy  his   woeful   dirge, 
Wherein  sighs  and  moanings  surge, 
When  from  Salem  I  must  part. 

God,  of  heavenly  hosts  the  Lord, 
Will  unsheath  anew  his  sword, 
As  on  Egypt's  fertile  plain; 
Will  return  his  Presence  bright 
Unto  Zion,  and  his  might 
Unto  Salem's  hills  again. 

Without  trying  to  follow  the  measure  or  rhyme  of  the 
original,  we  put  here  in  English  some  of  the  "gems"  of  the 
Selihoth  as  they  are  gathered  in  the  last  Atonement  service. 
Each  is  the  burden  of  a  longer  piece,  which  is  recited  in 
the  matins  of  the  Selihoth  days: 

(1)  Remember  the  covenant  with  Abraham  and  the  binding  of 
Isaac,  and  return  the  captivity  of  the  tents  of  Jacob,  and  save  us 
for  the  sake  of  thy  name. 

(2)  Israel  is  saved  by  the  Lord  in  everlasting  redemption;  may 
they  be  helped  this  day  also,  by  thy  word,  dweller  in  boundless 
heights;  for  thou  art  rich  in  forgiveness  and  full  of  mercy. 

(3)  May  he  hide  us  in  the  shadow  of  his  hand  beneath  the  wings 
of  the   Presence;   show   his   grace  when  he   proveth  the  crooked 
heart,  to  right  it;  arise,  our  God,  my  strength,  show  might,  do 
now!  O  Lord,  do  listen  to  our  fond  beseeching! 

(4)  May  he  that  dwelleth  hidden  and  most  high  tell  us:  I  have 
forgiven;  may  a  people,  down-trodden  and  poor,  find  aid  in  his 
saving  arm;   when  we  humbly  pray  to  thee,  thou  answer  us   in 
solemn  tones  of  acquittal;  O  Lord,  be  thou  the  helper  at  our  side. 

(5)  I  think  of  it,   O  God,  and  am  troubled,  when  I  see  every 
town  rebuilt  on  its  ruins;  but  the  city  of  God  is  laid  low,  deep 


240       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

down  as  the  pit;  and  yet  we  are  the  Lord's  and  to  the  Lord  are  our 
eyes. 

(6)  I   have   firmly   set   my   stakes   upon  the  thirteen   words   of 
mercy  and  on  the  gates  of  tears  that  never  are  locked;  on  these 
I  set  my  trust,  and  in  the  merit  of  three  fathers. 

(7)  Be  it  thy  will,  thou  who  hearest  the  sound  of  weeping,  that 
thou  wilt  gather  our  tears  into  thine  own  flagon;   and   do  thou 
deliver  us  from  all  cruel  decrees;  for  on  thee  alone  our  eyes  are 
fixed. 

The  following  piece  in  the  Monday  and  Thursday  ser- 
vice after  the  penitential  Psalm  has  hardly  any  poetic  form, 
but  is  classed  as  a  Pizmon  (French  Pseaumon),  and  deserves 
attention  as  being,  along  with  the  prose  pieces  for  those 
days  (see  Chs.  XIII  and  XV),  one  of  the  few  parts  of  the 
service  in  which  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews  in  exile  are 
dwelt  on: 

O  Lord,  God  of  Israel,  turn  from  thy  burning  anger,  and  be- 
think thyself  of  the  mischief  to  thy  people.  Look  fnom  heaven 
and  see  that  we  are  for  sport  and  contempt  among  the  nations; 
we  are  counted  as  sheep  carried  to  slaughter,  to  kill,  to  destroy, 
to  smite,  and  to  disgrace.  Yet  with  all  this  we  have  not  forgot 
thy  name;  O  do  not  forget  us.  Strangers  say:  there  is  no  pros- 
pect nor  hope;  show  grace  to  a  people  trusting  in  thy  name. 
Pure  One,  bring  on  thy  salvation;  we  are  weary,  we  have  had  no 
rest;  may  thy  mercies  suppress  thy  anger  against  us.  O  return 
from  thy  anger  and  show  mercy  to  thy  chosen  treasure.  Spare 
us,  O  Lord,  in  thy  mercy;  put  us  not  in  the  hands  of  the  cruel; 
why  should  the  nations  say:  where  then  is  their  God?  deal  for  thy 
sake  kindly  with  us;  do  not  delay.  Hear  our  voice,  show  grace, 
do  not  cast  us  off  into  the  hands  of  our  enemies,  to  blot  out  our 
name;  remember  what  thou  swarest  to  our  fathers:  I  shall  multi- 
ply your  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven;  yet  now  we  are  left  few  of  so 
many. 

The  last  remark  renders  this  piece  (written  probably  in 
the  tenth  century)  rather  inapplicable  in  our  times. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

CABBALISTIC  INTERPOLATIONS 

IN  the  later  middle  ages  and  in  still  more  recent  times, 
many  passages  from  Cabbalistic  sources  have  crept  into  the 
Prayer  Book.  Some  of  these  contain  on  their  face  nothing 
that  is  mystical  or  seems  to  belong  to  a  special  school  of 
thought.  Such  is  a  supplication  taken  from  the  Bahir  and 
falsely  ascribed  to  Nehonia  ben  Hakkana,  one  of  the  earlier 
Sages  of  the  Mishna.  It  is  placed  among  the  passages  from 
Bible  and  Talmud  in  the  early  morning  service  (see  Ch. 
XIV  supra),  and  begins  thus: 

(1)  Oh,  now,  by  the  force  of  the  greatness  of  thy  right  hand, 
loose  her  that  is  bound. 

(2)  Receive  the  singing  of  thy  people,  set  us  on  high,  cleanse 
us,  fearful  One. 

(3)  Oh,  thou  strong  One,  guard  those  who  seek  thy  Unity,  like 
the  pupil  of  the  eye,  etc. 

There  are  seven  lines;  each  is  made  up  of  six  Hebrew 
words,  and  at  its  end  the  initials  are  reproduced;  those  of 
the  second  line  spell  out  Kera'  Satan,  tear  the  adversary! 
Thus  this  otherwise  harmless  looking  composition  seems 
to  be  intended  rather  as  an  incantation  than  a  devotion,  and 
it  has  fallen  into  deserved  disuse. 

Lastly,  every  prayer  book  of  the  German  ritual  copies 
from  the  Zohar  a  prayer  to  be  read  by  every  one  when 
the  scrolls  are  taken  out,  against  which  no  objection  of  any 
kind  can  be  raised. 

Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Master  of  the  world;  blessed  be  thy 
crown    and    thy    residence.      Be    thy    favor    ever    with    thy   people 
16  (241) 


242       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Israel.  Show  the  help  of  thy  right  hand  to  thy  people  in  thy 
Temple;  let  the  gift  of  thy  light  reach  us,  and  receive  our  prayer 
in  mercy.  Be  it  thy  will  to  lengthen  our  lives  in  happiness;  may 
I  be  reckoned  among  the  righteous;  have  mercy  on  me  and  guard 
me  and  mine  and  all  that  belong  to  thy  people  Israel.  Thou  art 
he  that  feedeth  all,  and  provideth  for  all;  thou  art  he  that  ruleth 
over  all;  and  the  Kingdom  is  thine.  I  am  the  servant  of  the  Holy 
Blessed  One;  before  whom  and  before  the  glory  of  whose  law  I 
kneel  at  every  time.  I  do  not  trust  in  man;  nor  do  I  lean  on  any 
son  of  God;  but  I  trust  in  the  God  of  Heaven,  who  is  God  in 
truth,  whose  Law  is  truth,  whose  prophets  are  true;  and  who 
worketh  abundantly  kindness  and  truth.  In  him  I  trust,  and  I 
speak  praises  to  his  holy  and  glorious  name.  Be  it  thy  will  to 
open  my  heart  to  thy  Law  and  to  fulfill  the  cravings  of  my  heart 
and  of  the  hearts  of  all  thy  people,  for  happiness,  life,  and  peace.1 

We  have  seen  also  a  collection  of  twenty-two  verses  or 
one  with  twenty-two  repetitions  of  the  name  of  God;  in  all, 
the  Cabbalistic  purpose  is  hidden,  and  does  not  interfere 
with  the  edifying  effect  of  the  words  or  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  which  they  express. 

Very  different  are  a  number  of  petitions  and  declarations 
which  have  crept  into  many  prayer  books  since  the  days 
of  Isaac  Luna,  and  are  built  upon  the  peculiar  theology 
taught  by  him  and  other  Cabbalists,  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  writer  and  of  many  strict  and  law-observing  Jews, 
runs  counter  to  every  principle  of  Israel's  religion,  for  it 
recognizes  phases,  almost  persons,  in  the  deity. 

Here  is  an  example  as  short  as  any  that  could  have  been 
chosen.  JJefore  reciting  the  morning  hymns  the  worshipper 
is  advised  to  say: 

Behold,  I  prepare  my  mouth  to  thank,  to  praise,  and  to  honor 
my  Maker,  for  the  purpose  of  unifying  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be 
he,  and  his  Presence  (Shcchina),  by  means  of  that  Name  which  is 
hidden  and  secret  in  the  name  of  all  Israel. 

Before  the  performance  of  any  ceremony  ordained  by  the 
Law,  such  as  the  putting  on  of  the  fringed  shawl,  the  Cab-  ' 
balists   and   those   who  accept   their   interpolations   in   the 


CA  BE  A  L  IS  TIC  INTER  POL  A  TIONS  243 

Prayer  Book  offer  a  petition  to  be  rewarded  therefor  in  a 
special  way,  which  is  introduced  thus  in  Aramaic: 

"To  the  end  of  uniting  the  Holy  Blessed  One  and  his 
Presence  (Shcchind)  in  love  and  fear  in  the  name  of  all 
Israel." 

The  "love  and  fear"  is  evidently  borrowed  from  Christian 
sources;  the  phrase  is  unknown  in  all  the  older,  in  all  but 
the  Cabbalistic  literature  of  Jewish  prayer. 

Even  worse  are  the  petitions  ("Be  it  thy  will")  found  in 
small  print  in  the  New  Year's  service  book,  to  be  read 
between  the  alarm  sounds  in  which  certain  angels  otherwise 
unheard  of  are  supposed  to  "proceed"  from  the  sounds  of 
the  Shofar;  and  perhaps  worst  of  all,  a  petition  to  be  de- 
voutly said  by  the  people  while  the  priests  in  the  blessing 
ring  out  Peace  (Shalom),  wherein  arbitrary  combinations 
of  letters  are  palmed  off  on  the  innocent  worshipper  as 
names  of  God  that  "proceed"  from  the  priestly  blessing.2 

Among  the  Hasidim  sect  of  Poland  and  the  Sefardic 
Jews  of  Turkey  these  almost  idolatrous  interpolations,  none 
of  which  is  even  four  hundred  years  old,  stand  very  high, 
and  their  service  books  are  full  of  matter  of  the  same  kind. 
A  true  conservatism  among  the  Jews  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  would  have  kept  our  liturgy  clear 
of  them.  They  are  gradually  being  weeded  out  in  our 
own  times,  and  the  learned  quietly  ignore  them,  while  the 
ignorant  believe  in  the  merit  of  reading  and  pronouncing 
whatever  they  find  in  print. 

Much  as  the  writer  dislikes  to  acquaint  the  general  reader 
with  the  very  existence  of  these  excrescences,  he  cannot  pass 
them  over  without  being  guilty  of  implied  falsehood.  Alto- 
gether, the  Jewish  liturgy  has  perhaps  lost  more  than  it  has 
gained  by  the  additions  made  to  it  since  the  days  of  Rab 
and  Samuel  in  the  first  half  of  the  third  century.  There  are 
some  beautiful  gems  imbedded  in  vast  masses  of  ore  of 
medieval  poetry;  the  very  prayer  quoted  from  the  Zohar  in 
this  chapter  is  almost  sublime;  but  it  seems  that  these  gems 


244       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

are  bought  at  too  high  a  price,  if  all  the  inert  and  all  the 
poisonous  matter  must  be  taken  into  the  bargain;  and  if  the 
daily  and  Sabbath  services  are  to  be  swollen  to  such  length 
that  leader  and  people  feel  tempted  to  shorten  them  by 
slurring. 

Setting  aside  the  "Reception  of  the  Sabbath"  by  Psalms 
and  hymns,  due  to  Solomon  the  Levite,  which  is  less  than 
four  hundred  years  old,  but  is  worth  preserving  on  intrinsic 
grounds,  all  steps  in  the  line  of  shortening  the  Jewish  ser- 
vices might  safely  be  taken  in  the  reverse  order  of  time, 
that  is,  by  lopping  off  and  dropping  first  what  has  been 
added  last. 


BOOK  III 
The  Desk  and  the  Pulpit 


BOOK  III 

THE  DESK  AND  THE  PULPIT 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  WEEKLY   PENTATEUCH   LESSON 

WHATEVER  the  higher  criticism  may  say  about  the  com- 
parative age  of  Biblical  writings,  for  the  observing  Israelite 
the  five  Books  of  Moses,  known  as  the  Tora,  or  Instruction, 
hence  as  the  Divine  Law,  occupy  a  much  higher  rank  than 
anything  else,  and  a  Scroll  of  the  Law,  written  according 
to  precept  "in  the  Hebrew  tongue  and  Assyrian  character," 
is  in  his  eyes  the  most  sacred  of  all  implements;  as  much  so 
almost  as  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  was  before  it  disap- 
peared in  the  sack  of  Solomon's  Temple.  Children,  at 
least  boys,  are  expected  to  study  the  Pentateuch  (Cbumash) 
before  and  above  everything  else;  grown  men,  to  keep  up 
their  acquaintance  with  it  by  reading  it  through  every  year, 
and  it  has  been  divided  into  fifty-four  sections,  one  (or 
if  there  are  not  enough  Sabbaths,  then  occasionally  two) 
to  be  read  on  each  Sabbath  of  the  year.  The  section  for 
each  week  is  called  by  the  Germans  the  Sidra,  by  the  Sefar- 
dim  the  Parasha;  the  former  apply  the  latter  name  to  the 
shorter  divisions  into  which  the  Sidra  is  divided  when  pub- 
licly read. 

To  the  Jews  raised  and  taught  in  the  old-fashioned  way 
the  division  of  the  Pentateuch  into  sections  is  much  more 
familiar  than  that  into  chapters,  which  came  to  them  only 
from  the  Septuagint  through  Christian  channels.  Every 

(247) 


248       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

section  is  named  after  its  first  striking  word.  Thus  the  first 
in  Genesis  is  known  as  Bcrcshith  (In  the  beginning),  the 
second  as  Noah,  etc.  There  are  twelve  sections  in  Genesis, 
which  "begin  as  follows: 

I,  i:  i;  II,  6:  9;  III,  12:  i;  IV,  18:  i;  V,  23:  i;  VI, 
25:  19;  VII,  28:  10;  VIII,  32:  4;  IX,  37:  i;  X,  41:  i;  XI, 
44:  18;  XII,  47:28. 

There  are  eleven  sections  in  Exodus,  beginning  as  fol- 
lows: 

XIII,  i:  i;  XIV,  6:  2;  XV,  10:  i;  XVI  (Beshallah,  con- 
taining the  Red  Sea  Song),  13:  17;  XVII  (Jithro,  contain- 
ing the  Ten  Commandments),  18:  i;  XVIII,  21:  i;  XIX, 
25:  i;  XX,  27:  20;  XXI,  30:  n;  XXII,  35:  i;  XXIII, 
38:21. 

There  are  ten  sections  in  Leviticus: 

XXIV,  i:  i;  XXV,  6:  i;  XXVI,  9:  i;  XXVII,  12:  i; 
XXVIII,  14:  i;  XXIX,  16:  i;  XXX  (Kedoshim,  con- 
taining the  Moral  Law),  19:  i;  XXXI,  21:  i;  XXXII,  25: 
i;  XXXIII,  26:  3. 

There  are  ten  sections  in  Numbers: 

XXXIV,  i:  i;  XXXV,  4:  21;  XXXVI,  8:  i;  XXXVII, 
13:  i;  XXXVIII,  16:  i;  XXXIX,  19:  i;  XL,  22:  2;  XLI, 
25:  io;XLII,  3o:2;XLm,  33:  i. 

There  are  eleven  sections  in  Deuteronomy: 

XLIV,  i:  i;  XLV  (Vacthhannan,  containing  the  second 
version  of  the  Ten  Commandments  and  Hear,  O  Israel), 
3:  23;  XLVI,  7:  12;  XLVII,  ii :  26;  XLVIII,  16:  18; 
XLIX,  2i :  10;  L,  26:  i;  LI,  29:  9;  LII  is  chapter  31; 
LIII  is  chapter  32;  LIV,  chapters  33,  34.  This  section  is 
read  on  the  "J°y  of  the  Law,"  the  ninth  day  of  the  Feast  of 
Huts. 

In  a  year  of  twelve  months  (353,  354,  or  355  days)  there. 
are  at  most  51  Sabbaths.  But  some  of  these  fall  upon  Fes- 
tivals or  upon  the  middle  days  of  the  Feasts,  when  the  regu- 
lar lesson  of  the  week  is  displaced.  But  even  in  a  year  of 
thirteen  months,  which  has  generally  55  Sabbaths,  these 


THE  U'EEKL  Y  PENTA  TEUCH  L ESSO.\  249 

interruptions  leave  less  than  54  of  them  for  weekly  les- 
sons. Thus  it  is  always  necessary  to  combine  some  of  the 
weekly  portions  into  doublets.  This  is  done  according  to 
rules,  which  we  need  not  discuss  in  all  their  details,  with 
XXII  and  XXIII  (both  about  setting  up  the  Tabernacle); 
XXVII  and  XXVIII  (about  leprosy  and  like  matters); 
XXIX  and  XXX  (Day  of  Atonement  and  Moral  Law); 
XXXII  and  XXXIII;  XXXIX  and  XL;  XLII  and 
XLIII;  and  lastly  LI  and  LII  (the  last  doings  of  Moses). 

The  earlier  doublets  are  always  arranged  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  Debarim,  the  first  section  in  Deuteronomy,  is  read 
before  the  Fast  of  the  Ninth  of  Ab;  Vacthhannan  on  the 
Sabbath  after  the  Fast;  hence  the  joining  or  separating  of 
LI  and  LII  depends  only  on  the  question  whether  or  not 
New  Year  and  the  Day  of  Atonement  are  both  on  week- 
days, or  whether  one  of  them  is  on  a  Sabbath.  In  the 
former  case  one  more  weekly  lesson  is  needed,  and  these 
sections  are  read  separately.1 

Both  Josephus  and  the  New  Testament  speak  of  the  pub- 
lic reading  of  the  Law  on  every  Sabbath  as  a  well  estab- 
lished custom  by  means  of  which  "Moses"  is  well-known 
to  every  Israelite.  There  are  many  Talmudic  passages  trac- 
ing the  weekly  readings,  including  those  on  Mondays  and 
Thursdays,  back  to  the  days  of  Ezra;  but  there  is  no  con- 
temporary testimony  earlier  than  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts. 
The  Books  of  the  Maccabees  (as  stated  in  a  former  chapter) 
never  speak  of  a  Synagogue,  but  of  a  place  of  prayer.  It 
is,  however,  most  probable  that  the  habit  of  these  public 
readings  grew  with  the  multiplication  of  books  and  of  per- 
sons capable  of  reading,  and  if  during  the  procuratorship 
of  Pontius  Pilate  there  were  a  scroll  of  the  Law  and  seven 
men  capable  of  reading  it  in  every  village,  even  in  the  less 
cultured  district  of  Galilee,  two  hundred  years  earlier  copies 
of  the  Law  and  men  able  to  read  it  in  public  could  be  found 
at  least  at  the  places  dedicated  to  public  instruction  in 
Jerusalem  and  in  the  larger  towns.  That  there  were  already 


250       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

many  books  of  the  Law  in  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
seems  clear  from  his  attempt  to  destroy  them  in  order  that 
the  Law  might  be  forgotten  in  Israel.2 

But  the  Tora  was  not,  while  the  Temple  stood,  nor  in 
Palestine  for  a  long  time  thereafter,  read  in  the  course  of  a 
single  year.  To  trace  this  matter  we  must  look  first  to  the 
Scriptural  command. 

The  only  command  which  the  Law  itself  gives  as  to  its  pub- 
lic reading  is  found  in  Deuteronomy  31,  "At  the  end  of  seven 
years,  in  the  set  time  of  the  year  of  release,  is  the  Feast  of 
Huts,  etc. ;  thou  shalt  read  the  law  before  all  Israel  in  their 
hearing.  Assemble  the  men  and  the  women  and  the  little 
ones,"  etc.  It  might  be  hence  inferred  that  the  first  cycle 
would  have  been  one  of  seven  years;  that  is,  a  small  portion, 
about  sixteen  verses,  might  be  read  on  every  Sabbath  for 
seven  years  till  the  5,845  verses  were  gone  through  with, 
and  then  the  whole  Tora  would  be  read  at  the  Feast  of  the 
year  of  release.  But  there  is  no  historic  evidence  that  this 
was  ever  done.  There  was  perhaps  at  one  time  a  division  of 
the  Pentateuch  into  175  parts,  which  would  point  to  a 
cycle  of  three  years  and  a  half;  but  otherwise  there  is  hardly 
any  historic  evidence  that  such  a  cycle  was  ever  used.3 

All  Hebrew  Bibles  of  the  present  day  state  at  the  end  of 
each  of  the  five  books  how  many  divisions  named  "Seder" 
it  contains,  and  of  these  there  are  154,  just  enough  to  sup- 
ply a  cycle  of  three  years;  and  the  Babylonian  Talmud  says 
distinctly:  in  the  West  (i.  e.,  in  Palestine)  they  finish  the 
Tora  in .  three  years,  while  on  the  Euphrates  it  was  read 
through  in  one  year,  so  that  the  same  section  always  came 
around  at  the  same  season.4  The  Sefardim  took  their 
ritual  from  Babylonia,  and  naturally  fell  into  the  yearly 
cycle;  and  it  seems  that  the  Jews  of  France  and  Germany 
acted  in  the  same  way.  It  appears  that  the  Palestinians 
simply  held  to  their  custom  in  the  belief  that  it  was  un- 
worthy of  the  .dwellers  in  the  Holy  Land  to  follow  the  lead 
of  the  men  of  the  dispersion;  while  Jews  in  all  other  parts 


THE  WEEKLY  PENTATEUCH  LESSON  251 

of  the  world,  after  the  downfall  of  the  Patriarchate  at 
Tiberias,  obeyed  in  this  as  well  as  in  all  other  matters  the 
only  central  authority  remaining,  that  is,  the  schools  of 
Sura  and  Pumbeditha.  The  three-years  cycle  cannot  have 
disappeared  altogether  till  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  in 
Spain,  when  the  complete  Sefardic  ritual  was  introduced  in 
the  Holy  Land.5 

But  it  seems  that  the  three-years  cycle  cannot  have  taken 
hold  even  in  Palestine  without  a  struggle.  For  a  Baraitha 
sets  up  the  tradition  that  Ezra  had  ordained  to  read  the 
"blessings  and  curses"  in  Leviticus  before  Pentecost,  those 
in  Deuteronomy  before  New  Year.  The  former  (Lev.  26) 
are  now  read  on  the  second  Sabbath  before  Pentecost,  the 
latter  on  the  second  Sabbath  before  New  Year.  This  must 
have  been  the  custom,  or  at  least  the  custom  of  some  party 
or  school  at  Jerusalem,  otherwise  no  one  would  have 
claimed  Ezra  as  authority.6 

The  ordinary  Jew  is  more  familiar  with  the  first  subsec- 
tion than  with  other  parts  of  the  portion,  for  on  Sabbath 
afternoon  and  again  on  Monday  and  Thursday  the  first 
part  of  the  coming  Sabbath's  portion  is  read.7 

Monday  and  Thursday  were  the  days  on  which  the  courts 
met  in  all  the  towns  of  Palestine  for  the  dispatch  of  civil 
causes.  On  these  days  the  farmers  came  into  town  for  legal 
and  other  business,  and  dropped  in  at  the  Synagogue;  it 
was  deemed  the  best  time  for  obtaining  an  audience  for  a 
short  lesson  from  the  Law.  The  Talmud  distinctly  claims 
that  Ezra  instituted  as  well  the  court  sessions  as  the  Bible 
readings  on  these  two  days  of  the  week,  and  there  is  no 
reason  for  denying  that  he  established  the  former,  though 
it  is  highly  improbable  that  the  week-day  readings  are  so 
old,  when  so  high  an  age  cannot  be  proved  even  for  the 
Sabbath  lessons.8 

The  movement  in  modern  times  towards  a  three-years 
cycle,  which  prevails  in  many  otherwise  quite  conservative 
congregations,  arose  from  the  lessened  interest  in  the 


252       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Pentateuch,  especially  its  drier  portions,  those  in  attend- 
ance finding  it  irksome  to  listen  for  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
five  minutes  consecutively  to  names  and  numbers,  orders 
of  sacrifice,  laws  of  clean  and  unclean,  or,  what  is  worse, 
simply  to  Hebrew  words  which  they  do  not  understand 
at  all.  Hence  a  return  to  a  custom  which  was  probably 
universal  till  the  establishment  of  the  Babylonian  schools 
in  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era,  and  which  was 
kept  up  in  Palestine  during  all  or  most  of  the  middle  ages, 
was  naturally  suggested;  strange  though  it  seems  to  a  Jew 
raised  in  the  ''Babylonian"  style,  by  whom  the  Sidra 
is  felt  as  much  a  part  of  each  particular  Sabbath  as  the 
ram's  horn  is  of  New  Year  or  fasting  is  of  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment. Hence,  by  way  of  compromise,  many  modernized 
congregations  retain  the  one-year  cycle,  but  read  in  each 
year  only  about  one-third  of  the  Sidra,  thus  finishing  the 
whole  Tora  in  three  years. 

That  the  one-year  cycle  is  made  to  end  on  the  closing 
day  of  the  Feast  of  Huts  seems  naturally  suggested  by  the 
Biblical  command  to  read  the  whole  Tora  on  that  feast  in 
the  seventh  year,  and  from  the  intimation  of  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  that  sections  XXI  and  XXII  were  read  shortly 
before  the  first  of  Adar,  it  is  clear  that  the  cycle  was  begun 
and  closed  then  as  it  is  now.9  But  there  is  some  evidence 
to  indicate  that  the  three-years  cycle  began  early  in  the 
Passover  month.10 

It  is  well-known  that  throughout  the  Bible  there  are  a 
number  of  double  readings,  one  being  "written"  (Kethib) 
in  the  text,  the  other  being  handed  down  by  tradition  as 
more  correct,  which  latter  in  vowelled  books  is  indicated  by 
its  vowel  points,  while  its  letters  are  marked  in  the  margin 
as  "to  be  read"  (K'ri).  Among  these  double  readings  are 
several  in  which  the  Kcthib  is  not  set  aside  as  a  corrupt 
text,  but  simply  deemed  indelicate;  and  a  word  of  the  same 
meaning,  but  not  so  coarse,  is  substituted  in  reading.  Such 


THE  WEEKLY  PENTATEUCH  LESSON  253 

corrections  are  made  as  well  in  the  prophetic  books  as  in 
the  Tora,  and  are  marked  in  the  copies  from  which  the 
former  are  generally  read.  Those  in  the  Tora  the  reader 
must  know  by  heart.11 


CHAPTER  II 

LESSONS    OUTSIDE    OF   THE    WEEKLY    ORDER 

ON  all  the  Biblical  holidays,  that  is,  on  the  Festivals 
which  require  rest,  on  the  middle  days  of  the  Feasts,  and  on 
the  New  Moon,  also  on  Purim,  the  public  fasts,  and  on 
Hanucca,  which  is  wholly  un-Scriptural,  passages  from  the 
Pentateuch  are  read  in  the  public  service  with  the  same 
solemnities  as  on  the  Sabbaths  or  on  Mondays  and  Thurs- 
days. 

At  present  the  order  is  the  following: 

On  the  first  day  of  the  Passover  the  narrative  of  the  de- 
parture from  Egypt,  beginning  with  verse  21  of  the  I2th 
chapter  of  Exodus  and  ending  with  the  last  verse  of  the 
chapter.  When  it  is  on  a  Sabbath  the  Sefardim  begin  at 
verse  14. 

On  the  seventh  clay  of  the  Passover,  the  crossing  of  the 
Red  Sea,  beginning-  with  section  XVI  (Beshallah)  in  the 
i3th  chapter  of  Exodus  and  closing  with  the  26th  verse  of 
chapter  15. 

On  Pentecost,  the  iQth  and  2oth  chapters  of  Exodus, 
giving  the  narrative  of  the  revelation  on  Mount  Sinai  and 
the  Ten  Commandments  as  part  thereof. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year,  the  2ist  chapter  of 
Genesis,  containing  the  birth  of  Isaac. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  New  Year,  the  22d  chapter  of 
Genesis,  the  "binding  of  Isaac." 

On  the  Day  of  Atonement,  in  the  morning,  the  sixteenth 
chapter  of  Leviticus,  which  sets  forth  the  Temple  service 
of  that  day. 

(254) 


LESSONS  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  WEEKLY  ORDER         255 

On  the  same  day  in  the  afternoon,  the  i8th  chapter  of 
Leviticus,  containing  the  laws  against  incest. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  Feast  of  Huts,  the  23d  chapter  of 
Leviticus,  in  which  all  the  festivals  are  prescribed,  and  as 
an  introduction  thereto  the  last  eight  verses  of  chapter  22d. 

On  the  ninth  day  of  the  same  feast,  that  is,  on  the  double 
of  the  "Eighth,"  in  other  words  on  the  "J°y  of  the  Law," 
section  54  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  ended, 
the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  with  three  verses  of  chapter  2, 
that  is,  the  Elohistic  account  of  creation. 

The  lesson  for  the  second  day  of  the  Passover  and  of  the 
Feast  of  Huts  is  the  same  as  on  the  first  day  of  the  Feast 
of  Huts. 

On  the  eighth  or  double  of  the  seventh  day  of  Passover, 
on  the  second  day  of  Pentecost,  and  on  the  "Eighth"  in  the 
Feast  of  Huts,  the  account  of  the  three  Feasts  in  Deuter- 
onomy is  read.  On  the  two  former  of  these  days,  when 
on  a  work-day,  the  lesson  begins  at  ch.  15,  v.  19;  on  the 
last-named  Festival  and  always  on  the  Sabbath  at  ch.  14, 
v.  22,  and  it  always  ends  with  the  weekly  portion,  section 
XLVII,  Deut.  16:  17. 

These  lessons  displace  that  of  the  week  though  the  day 
be  a  Sabbath.  So  also,  when  one  of  the  middle  days  of  the 
Passover  or  of  the  Feast  of  Huts  is  on  a  Sabbath,  the  weekly 
portion  is  not  read,  but  a  part  of  section  XXI  beginning 
at  Exodus  33:  12,  and  closing  with  34:  26,  which  contains 
a  short  reference  to  the  three  Festivals. 

On  the  middle  days  of  the  Passover  when  not  on  the 
Sabbath,  the  following  small  portions  are  read:  On  the 
first  middle  day  (the  third  of  the  feast),  Ex.,  ch.  13:  1-16; 
on  the  second  middle  day,  Ex.  22:  24  to  23:  19;  on  the  third 
middle  day,  Ex.  34:  1-26;  on  the  fourth,  Num.  9:  1-14 
(about  the  second  Passover).  All.  of  these  contain  references 
to  the  three  Feasts  or  at  least  to  the  Passover. 

On  the  middle  days  of  the  Feast  of  Huts  the  sacrifices 


256       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

for  the  particular  day  are  read  from  Numbers,  ch.  29,  count- 
ing both  from  the  first  and  from  the  second  day.1 

On  Purim  the  last  nine  verses  of  the  i/th  chapter  of 
Exodus  are  read,  proclaiming  the  everlasting  war  against 
Amalek.2 

On  public  fasts  passages  from  the  32d  and  34th  chapters 
of  Exodus  (11-14  °f  the  former  and  i-io  of  the  latter),  tell- 
ing of  God's  forgiveness  of  the  sin  of  the  golden  calf  and 
teaching  the  thirteen  qualities  of  mercy.  These  passages 
are  read  both  in  the  morning  and  in  the  afternoon.3  But 
in  the  morning  of  the  Ninth  of  Ab  the  lesson  is  from 
Deuteronomy,  chapter  4,  verses  25-40,  which  are  full  of 
warning. 

On  Hanucca  are  read  three  of  the  paragraphs  in  the 
seventh  chapter  of  Numbers,  in  which  the  chiefs  of  the 
tribes  bring  their  gifts  at  the  dedication  of  the  Tabernacle, 
progressing  according  to  the  day. 

On  New  Moons  Numbers,  ch.  28,  vv.  1-15,  is  read,  which 
contains  the  public  sacrifices  for  every  day,  for  the  Sabbath, 
and  for  the  New  Moon;  about  all  appertaining  to  the  day 
that  could  be  found  in  the  Pentateuch.4 

Purim  and  the  fasts  are  never  celebrated  on  a  Sabbath, 
and  the  New  Moon  or  Hanucca  lessons  do  not  displace 
the  weekly  lesson,  but  are  read  in  addition  thereto;  that  for 
the  New  Moon  being  begun  at  Num.  28:  9,  and  that  for 
Hanucca  being  confined  to  the  verses  for  the  particular 
day.  But  all  these  lessons  displace  the  reading  from  the 
current  Sidra  for  Mondays  and  Thursdays.  Nothing  but 
the  Day  of  Atonement  displaces  the  Saturday  afternoon 
reading.  Thus  when  the  first  and  eighth  days  of  the  Pass- 
over come  on  Saturday,  the  fiist  subsection  of  the  lesson  for 
the  Sabbath  which  follows  after  these  two  is  read  on  the 
afternoons  of  three  Saturdays,  two  of  which  are  also  Festi- 
vals. 

On  all  Festivals,  also  on  the  middle  days  of  the  Passover. 
two  scrolls  are  read  from;  the  portions  named  above  are 


LESSOJVS  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  WEEKLY  ORDER         257 

read  first  from  one  scroll,  then  the  paragraph  from  the  28th 
or  29th  chapter  of  Numbers,  which  sets  forth  the  duty  and 
the  sacrifice  of  the  particular  feast,  are  read  from  the  other. 
The  second  days  of  the  Festival  are  treated  for  that  purpose 
as  if  they  were  the  genuine  first  days.  On  the  middle  days 
of  the  Feast  of  Huts  (except  on  the  Sabbath)  only  one 
scroll  is  read  from,  because  the  lessons  are  entirely  from 
the  29th  chapter  of  Numbers. 

On  Sabbath  and  New  Moon  or  a  Sabbath  in  Hanucca 
there  are  two  scrolls,  for  the  reason  given  above;  but  if  the 
New  Moon  of  Tebeth  is  a  Sabbath,  three  scrolls  are  needed, 
one  for  the  portion  of  the  week,  one  for  the  reading  of  the 
sacrifices  for  the  Sabbath  and  the  New  Moon  from  Numbers 
28,  and  the  third  for  the  Hanucca  lesson  from  the  7th 
chapter  of  Numbers. 

Lastly  the  four  extra  lessons  must  be  explained.  During 
the  subsistence  of  the  Temple  a  poll-tax  of  a  half-shekel  was 
paid  in  pursuance  of  Ex.  30:  11-16  by  every  full-grown 
Israelite  on  the  first  day  of  the  eleventh  month,  the  anni- 
versary of  the  day  when  like  contributions  were  made  to  the 
Tabernacle  in  the  wilderness.  Hence  to  remind  men  of 
their  duty,  this  passage  (known  as  Shekalim)  was  read  on 
the  Sabbath  next  before  or  coinciding  with  the  first  of 
Adar.  Next,  on  the  Sabbath  before  Purim,  the  last  three 
verses  of  Deut.  25  were  read  (Remember  what  Amalek  did 
unto  thee)  on  the  supposition  that  the  wicked  Haman  was 
an  Amalekite  by  descent.  On  the  Sabbath  after  Purim 
it  was  fit  that  men  should  take  the  proper  steps  to  become 
Levitically  clean  for  the  Passover;  hence  the  law  about 
the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer  (Numbers,  ch.  19)  was  then  read. 
Lastly,  as  the  first  command  given  by  Moses  to  the  children 
of  Israel  refers  to  the  consecration  of  Nisan  (then  called 
Abib)  as  the  first  month  of  the  year,  the  "portion  about  the 
month,"  Ex.  12:  1-20,  was  read  on  the  Sabbath  before  or 
coinciding  with  the  New  Moon  of  Nisan,  that  this  duty  and 
the  events  upon  which  it  rests  might  be  impressed  on  the 
17 


258       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HO  Mi: 

minds  of  the  hearers.  Thus  arose  the  institution  of  the  four 
Sabbaths  known  as  Shekalim  (Shekels),  Zachor  (Remem- 
ber), Para  (Heifer),  Hodesh  (Month).  The  short  lessons 
are  read  from  a  second  scroll  after  the  weekly  portion. 
Shekalim  and  Hodesh  may  happen  on  a  New  Moon,  and  then 
three  scrolls  are  used,  one  for  the  weekly  portion,  one  for 
the  New  Moon  from  Numbers  28,  and  one  for  the  lesson 
due  to  the  season. 

This  is  the  modern  custom  in  nearly  all  of  its  details,  and 
it  seems  to  agree  pretty  well  with  the  statement  of  the  Baby- 
lonian Talmud  as  to  the  custom  in  the  days  of  Abbaye,  who 
flourished  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  and  this  cus- 
tom purports  to  rest  upon  the  teaching  of  Sages  of  the 
Mishna,  such  as  Rabbi  Me'ir.  The  Babylonians  only  add 
further  readings  for  their  second  holidays,  which  were  un- 
known to  the  old  Sages,  and  where  these  were  divided  in 
opinion  as  to  the  proper  lesson,  they  follow  both  views, 
assigning  one  lesson  to  the  first,  the  other  to  the  second  day. 
However,  the  lesson  for  the  eighth  of  the  Passover,  the 
second  of  Pentecost,  and  eighth  of  the  Feast  is  in  the  Tal- 
mud given  only  in  its  shorter  form,  beginning  in  the  fif- 
teenth chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  v.  19,  and  omitting  the 
provisions  about  the  tithe  for  the  poor,  the  year  of  release, 
and  the  manumission  of  bondmen.5 

But  the  Mishna  differs  very  much  from  the  modern  cus- 
tom thus  delivered  to  us  by  the  Babylonians.  Only  for  the 
Day  of  Atonement  it  prescribes  the  reading  of  Lev.  16, 
which  was  already  read  by  the  High  Priest  in  the  Temple, 
and  could  not  be  passed  by; on  all  other  festivals  it  puts  us  off 
with  parts  of  the  "lesson  of  feasts"  (i.  e.,  ch.  23)  in  Leviticus 
or  a  short  paragraph  about  Pentecost  in  Deuteronomy;  it 
thus  robbed  that  day  of  its  peculiar  holiness  as  the  feast  of 
revelation,  and  did  not  associate  New  Year  with  the  youth 
of  the  world,  the  age  of  Abraham  and  Isaac.6 

It  is  not  clear  from  the  list  of  the  lessons  as  given  in  the 
Talmud  that  the  paragraphs  as  to  sacrifices  from  Numbers 


LESSONS  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  WEEKLY  ORDER         259 

28  and  29  were  read  from  a  second  scroll  on  those  days 
when  a  lesson  elsewhere  was  prescribed;  in  other  words, 
on  any  days  but  the  middle  days  of  the  Feast  of  Huts. 
There  is  however  a  hint  that  such  was  already  the  custom 
in  Talmudic  times,  conveyed  in  the  legendary  saying  that 
Abraham  anxiously  asked  God  how  the  sins  of  Israel  would 
be  forgiven  when  their  Temple  was  destroyed,  and  they 
should  have  no  place  where  to  bring  their  sacrifices,  and 
he  was  told  that  to  read  the  duty  of  these  sacrifices  from  the 
Tora  would  be  accepted  as  a  full  equivalent.7 


CHAPTER  III 

HOW   THE   LESSON   IS    DISTRIBUTED 

ABOUT  the  distribution  of  the  lesson  from  the  Penta- 
teuch the  Mishna  teaches  the  following: 

"On  Mondays  and  Thursdays  and  on  Saturday  afternoon 
three  read,  neither  more  nor  less;  on  New  Moons  and  Mid- 
dle Days,  four,  neither  more  nor  less;  on  (other)  festivals 
five,  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  six,  on  the  Sabbath  seven; 
never  less,  but  they  may  have  more;  none  should  read  in 
the  Tora  less  than  three  verses."1 

It  is  the  part  of  the  leader  (generally  under  the  secular 
head  of  the  congregation)  to  call  these  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  or  more 
men  to  the  desk,  and  for  many  centuries  each  read  his 
allotted  part  aloud  in  the  hearing  of  the  congregation. 

The  "Kazan,"  or  overseer,  or  other  person  skilled  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  text  might  prompt  him,  but  those  present 
expected  to  hear  the  lesson  from  the  person  called,  and  as 
there  might  not  always  be  the  seven  men  on  hand  capable 
of  reading,  it  was  lawful  to  call  boys  under  thirteen  or 
women  to  the  desk.2 

When  a  man  of  the  priestly  tribe  (a  Cohen)  is  in  the 
Synagogue,  he  is  called  first;  after  him  a  Levite;  thereafter 
those  making  up  the  smallest  required  number  (seven  on 
a  Sabbath)  should  be  plain  Israelites,  and  a  woman  should 
rather  be  called  to  make  up  the  seven  than  that  one  priest 
after  another  should  read  a  portion.3 

When  the  reading  by  from  three  to  seven  laymen  was  first 
instituted,  the  "companions  still  held  aloof  from  the  un- 
learned people  of  the  land;"  moreover,  vowel  points  being 
unknown,  whoever  could  read  Hebrew  at  all  read  as  well 

(260) 


HOW  THE  LESSON  IS  DISTRIBUTED  261 

from  the  scroll  as  from  any  other  book;  lastly,  those  ac- 
cents which  give  to  each  verse  a  different  tune  had  not  yet 
been  set  to  the  texts  in  books  other  than  the  scroll;  hence 
no  need  of  a  long  preparation  for  studying  these  tunes. 
When  the  bars  against  the  ignorant  were  thrown  down, 
when  the  use  of  vowel  points  in  ordinary  books  had  raised 
the  Heading  of  the  bare  scroll  into  an  art,  and  when  chanting 
by  accents  had  come  into  vogue,  say  as  early  as  the  tenth 
century,  the  men  called  to  the  desk  felt  unequal  to  the  task 
of  reading  aloud;  they  left  it  to  a  permanent  official,  them- 
selves reading  with  the  eye  only,  at  most,  articulating  inaud- 
ibly,  as  in  the  silent  Prayer.  That  such  a  course  was 
already  taken  in  olden  times,  that  R.  Akiba  himself  once 
refused  to  read  his  Parasha  for  lack  of  preparation,  is 
asserted  in  the  younger  Aggadta,  but  is  not  very  probable.4 
But  it  was  always  the  rule  that  only  one  must  read,  either 
the  official  or  the  person  called,  never  both  of  them  to- 
gether. The  sixteenth  century  Code  of  R.  Joseph  Karo 
with  its  later  annotations  still  recognizes  the  distinction 
between  persons  who  can  and  those  who  cannot  read;  it 
still  speaks  of  women  and  children  being  preferred  to  men 
unable  to  read.  But  when  these  men  were  only  expected 
to  read  with  the  eye,  the  distinction  became  untenable, 
especially  when  it  was  hoped  that  those  called  to  the  desk 
would  make  offerings  to  the  fund  of  the  Synagogue.  Such 
aid  could  not  well  be  refused  for  a  lack  of  skill  that  would 
not  be  tested.  Thus  anyone  was  called  to  the  desk,  and 
hardly  anyone  read.  Another  change  naturally  followed. 
According  to  the  Mishna,  whether  three  or  seven  were 
called  to  the  desk,  only  the  first  one  spoke  a  benediction, 
which  covered  the  day's  lesson,  and  the  last  again  another 
benediction  covering  it  retrospectively.5  The  first  benedic- 
tion is  introduced  in  the  way  heretofore  described  as  "break- 
ing on  the  Shema,"  and  runs  thus: 

"Bless  ye  the   Lord,  the  highly  blessed.     Ans.     Blessed  be  the 
Lord,   the  highly  blessed,   forever  and  ever.  Blessed  be  thou,    O 


262       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast  chosen  us  from  all 
the  nations  and  given  us  thy  Law.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  the 
giver  of  the  Law." 

The  benediction  after  reading  is,  "Blessed  be  thou,  etc., 
who  hast  given  us  the  Law  of  truth,  and  planted  within  us 
eternal  life.  Blessed  be,"  etc.,  as  above.6 

The  Talmud  speaks  of  some  passages  to  be  honored. as  if 
they  were  complete  books  by  having  these  benedictions 
recited  before  and  after  them,  namely  the  Red  Sea  Song, 
the  Ten  Words  in  Exodus,  the  Ten  Words  in  Deuteronomy, 
the  last  eight  verses  of  the  Pentateuch.7  But  at  a  later  time, 
during  the  growth  of  the  Talmud,  it  became  the  custom  for 
every  man  called  to  the  desk  to  bless  before  and  after  his 
subsection;  hence  those  stepping  on  the  platform  had  some- 
thing to  say,  while  otherwise  they  must  have  gone  through 
a  dumb  show.8  Thus,  under  the  present  usage,  a  man  is 
called  to  the  desk  to  pronounce  a  benediction  before  and 
after  his  subsection  and  not  to  read  it.  To  read  is  now  the 
exception.  It  takes  place,  first,  when  the  official  reader  is 
honored  with  an  "Ascent"  (Aliya)  in  his  own  right;  second, 
when  this  official  wishes  to  honor  some  scholar  who  likes  to 
read  from  the  scroll,  and  invites  him  to  do  so;  third,  when  a 
Bar  Mitzva,  a  boy  who  has  just  attained  religious  full 
age,  having  passed  his  thirteenth  birthday  by  the  Jewish 
Calendar,  is  called  to  the  desk  for  the  first  time.  But  it  is 
deemed  more  meritorious  that  such  a  boy  should  study  up 
the  whole  Sabbath  portion,  and  be  the  Baal  Kore  for  the 
day,  reading  for  the  others  as  well  as  for  himself. 

The  Bar  Mitzva  celebration  has  its  benefits  and  its  draw- 
backs. When  a  boy  is  trained  to  study  the  whole  section 
for  the  week  together  with  the  prophetic  lesson  thoroughly, 
so  that  he  can  read  both  as  correctly  as  the  regular  reader, 
he  obtains  some  valuable  training,  such  as  most  boys  will 
gladly  undergo  for  the  pleasure  of  showing  their  achieve- 
ments in  public.  But  the  boy's  time  may  be  wasted  in 
learning  to  chant  the  lessons  rather  than  understand  them. 


HOW  THE  LESSON  IS  DISTRIBUTED  263 

A  greater  drawback  is  the  early  age  at  which  this  induction 
into  manhood  takes  place;  to  many  parents  it  seems  the 
proper  season  at  which  the  son's  religious  studies  should 
come  to  an  end. 

The  ostensible  ground  for  solemnly  calling  the  boy  to 
the  desk  as  a  Bar  Mitzva  (son  of,  that  is,  bound  by,  the 
Law)  is  that  learning  and  teaching  the  Tora  is  the  one  great 
duty  at  the  base  of  all  others;  but  this  cannot  be  the  true 
reason,  for  all  the  standards,  from  the  Mishna  down,  hold 
that  boys  under  thirteen  are  competent  to  read  the  Tora 
in  public;  and  as  to  the  prophetic  lesson,  it  is  still  quite 
common  to  allot  it  to  such  boys.9 

The  custom  of  the  Bar  Mitzva  is  hardly  three  hundred 
years  old,  and  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  confirma- 
tion of  Christian  children  at  nearly  the  same  age.  Reform 
congregations  are  more  frank  in  their  borrowing,  for  they 
have  taken  over  the  name  and  form  and  season  along  with 
the  general  idea  of  "confirmation." 

The  Pentateuchs  published  by  Jews  for  private  use  have 
the  subsections  marked  in  them,  and  the  two  rituals  disa- 
gree as  to  this  subdivision  only  in  a  few  places.  The  Tal- 
mud lays  down  the  rule  that  as  far  as  possible  each  subsec- 
tion should  begin  and  end  with  pleasant  or  honorable  words. 
Thus  a  part  of  the  blessings  in  Leviticus  26  is  read  by  (or 
for)  him  who  has  the  "rebuke,"  or  prediction  of  evils,  in  his 
portion.  In  the  48th  of  Genesis  a  subsection  closes,  "For 
thy  salvation  I  hope,  O  Lord."  Subsection  four  of  XVI, 
which  embraces  the  Red  Sea  Song,  goes  on  to  the  words, 
"I,  the  Lord,  am  thy  physician."  But  there  is  one  weekly 
portion,  the  last  but  one  in  the  cycle,  Deut.  33,  which  in- 
cludes the  farewell  of  Moses,  of  which  the  Talmud  itself 
marks  the  dividing  points;  this  leads  us  to  believe  that  the 
subdivision  of  the  other  portions  is  not  much  younger.10 

When  two  sections  are  read  together,  for  instance  51  and 
52,  near  the  end  of  Deuteronomy,  the  fourth  man  called  to 
the  desk  reads  across  from  the  first  to  the  second  section. 


264        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  books  for  use  in  the  service  mark  the  divisions  thus, 
"Seventh,  fourth  when  united,"  or  "Second,  fifth  when 
united." 

When  only  one  scroll  is  used,  as  on  an  ordinary  Sabbath, 
a  small  passage  at  the  end,  say  three  or  six  verses,  are  read 
by  or  for  the  Maftir,  or  "leave-giver,"  by  way  of  repetition 
after  the  whole  portion  has  already  been  read  by  or  for  the 
seven  or  more  persons  called  to  the  desk.  When  there  is  a 
second  scroll  the  lesson  from  that  belongs  to  the  Maftir. 
On  the  middle  days  of  the  Passover  three  men  read  from 
the  special  lesson  for  the  day,  and  the  fourth  from  the  2Qth 
chapter  of  Numbers.  This  reading  by  the  Maftir  is  clearly 
of  Talmudic  age.11 

The  lesson  for  Saturday  afternoon  and  Monday  and 
Thursday  is  generally  the  same  as  the  subsection  which  on 
the  following  Sabbath  is  read  to  the  Cohen,  or  first  man 
called.  Only  in  Ki  Tissa  (XXI)  this  subsection  is  inor- 
dinately long,  and  much  less  is  deemed  sufficient,  while  in 
Behar  Sinai  (XXXII)  and  in  the  four  last  Sidras  the  first 
subsection  has  less  than  ten  verses,  and  therefore  is  too 
short.  Even  in  subdividing  these  small  portions  among 
three  men,  pains  are  taken  to  give  to  each,  if  possible,  a 
pleasant  or  solemn  ending.  Where  paragraphs  are  marked 
by  breaks  in  the  line,  the  divisions  of  either  the  whole  sec- 
tion or  subsection  should  either  coincide  with  them  or  differ 
from  the  break  in  the  line  or  the  paragraph  by  at  least  three 
verses.12 

It  is  seen  that  everything  connected  with  the  reading  of 
the  lessons  is  minutely  looked  to,  and  all  contingencies  are 
provided  for. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   LESSON   FROM   THE    PROPHETS 

IN  the  Hebrew  Bible  eight  books  are  classed  as  "Proph- 
ets;" four  "earlier  Prophets,"  that  is,  Joshua,  Judges,  Sam- 
uel, and  Kings;  and  four  "later  Prophets,"  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  and  the  Twelve.  It  was  never  proposed  to  read 
the  whole  of  these  books  in  the  Synagogue;  on  the  con- 
trary, the  Sages  of  the  Mishna  indicate  some  passages  which 
should  not  be  read  publicly  for  fear  of  misunderstandings. 
But  at  an  early  day,  probably  during  the  Maccabean  wars, 
it  became  customary  to  read  lessons  from  these  eight  books, 
at  first  perhaps  as  a  substitute  for  those  from  the  Penta- 
teuch, when  no  copy  of  this  could  be  obtained,  but  soon  in 
addition  to  them,  after  them.  It  seems  that  while  now  the 
prophetic  lesson  is  only  the  last  exercise  of  the  desk,  being 
followed  by  Musaf,  it  was  formerly  the  very  last  of  all  the 
Sabbath  morning  services;  hence  it  obtained  the  name  of 
Haftara  (leave-giving,  or  dismissal),  whence  many  think 
the  Missa  (the  meeting  is  dismissed),  or  Mass,  of  the  Chris- 
tians derives  its  name;  and  he  who  read  it  was  said  to  be 
"giving  leave"  (Maftir)  in  the  Prophet.1 

There  are  at  present  two  classes  of  Haftaroth  for  the 
Sabbaths  of  the  year,  one  chosen  with  a  view  to  the  season, 
the  other,  and  much  larger  one,  with  regard  to  the  lesion  in 
the  Law.  There  are  twelve  of  the  former  class,  the  three 
"Punishments"  for  the  three  Sabbaths  before  the  Fast  of 
the  Ninth  of  Ab,  the  seven  "Comforts"  for  the  seven  Sab- 
baths which  follow  it,  then  one  or  two  "Repentances,"  ac- 
cording as  one  or  two  open  Sabbaths  intervene  between 
the  Day  of  Memorial  and  the  Feast  of  Huts.  As  the  event 

(265) 


266       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

around  which  ten  of  these  lessons  cluster  is  the  day  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Temple  by  Titus,  it  is  clear  that  they 
cannot  have  been  read  in  this  order  while  the  Temple 
stood. 

The  first  of  the  "Punishments"  is  Jeremiah,  from  ch.  I : 
i  to  ch.  2:  3;  the  second,  in  the  same  book,  ch.  2:  4-28,  to 
which  the  Germans  add  by  way  of  comfort  ch.  3,  v.  4,  the 
Sefardim  ch.  4:  i,  2;  the  third,  in  Isaiah,  in  chapter  i, 
verses  i  to  27,  known  as  Hazon  (The  Vision),  from  its  first 
word,  and  so  celebrated  for  the  scorn  with  which  the 
prophet  speaks  of  sacrifice  and  ceremony. 

The  "Comforts"  are  all  from  the  second  part  of  Isaiah, 
beginning-  with  "Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye,  my  people,"  for 
the  Sabbath  after  the  fast,  ch.  40:  1-26.  On  the  next  fol- 
lowing Sabbath,  "But  Zion  said,  the  Lord  has  forsaken 
me,"  from  ch.  49:  14  to  51 :  3;  on  the  third,  "Thou  afflicted, 
tempest-tossed,"  from  ib.  54:  11  to  55:  5;  on  the  fourth,  "I, 
even  I,  am  your  comforter,  ib.  51 :  12  to  52:  12;  on  the  fifth, 
"Sing,  O  thou  barren,"  ib.  54:  i-io;  on  the  sixth,  "Arise, 
shine,  for  thy  light  has  come,"  ib.  60:  1-22;  on  the  seventh, 
"I  will  greatly  rejoice  in  the  Lord,"  ib.  61 :  10  to  63:  9. 

As  to  the  "Repentances"  the  rituals  differ.  The  Sefar- 
dim read  on  the  Sabbath  before  the  Day  of  Atonement, 
"Seek  ye  the  Lord  when  he  may  be  found,"  Isa.  55:  6  to  56: 
8,  which  the  Germans  set  aside  for  fast  day  afternoons;  the 
Germans,  "Return,  O  Israel,  to  the  Lord,  thy  God,"  from 
the  last  chapter  of  Hosea,  to  which  "Blow  ye  the  horn  in 
Zion,"  Joel  2:  15-27,  is  added  when  there  is  no  free  Sabbath 
after  the  Day  of  Atonement,  but  the  last  three  verses  of 
Micah,  when  there  is;  while  the  Sefardim  reserve  "Return, 
O  Israel"  for  fast  day  afternoons. 

For  a  Sabbath  between  the  Day  of  Atonement  and  the 
Feast  the  Haftara  is  Ezekiel  17:  22  to  end  of  ch.  18,  a  com- 
plete treatise  on  the  right  of  the  individual  to  earn  divine 
favor  by  a  return  to  righteousness.2 

For  the  other  Sabbaths  of  the  year  the  Haftaroth  are 


THE  LESSON  FROM  THE  PROPHETS  267 

chosen  as  shown  hereafter:  For  Section  I,  the  Creation, 
"Thus  says  God  the  Lord  who  created  the  heavens,"  Isaiah 
42:  5-21  (or  to  43:  10).  For  II,  the  Deluge,  lesson  from 
Isa.  54:  i-io,  with  the  words,  "Is  not  this  for  me  like  the 
waters  of  Noah,"  the  same  as  the  fifth  "Comfort."  Section 
III,  the  call  of  Abraham  from  the  east,  Haftara,  Isa.  40:  27 
to  41:  16,  with  the  words,  "Whom  has  he  aroused  from  the 
east,"  applying  to  Cyrus.  For  Section  IV,  the  late  birth 
of  Isaac  and  his  escape  from  death,  2  Kings  4:  1-37  (or  23), 
the  son  born  to  the  lady  at  Shunem  brought  back  from 
death.  Section  V,  Abraham  getting  old,  David  becomes 
old,  i  Kings  i:  1-31.  Section  VI,  the  birth  of  Jacob  and 
Esau  and  their  blessings;  Malachi  i:  i  to  2:  7,  God's  prefer- 
ence for  Jacob.  Section  VII,  Jacob  goes  to  Laban  wooing, 
"Then  Jacob  fled  to  the  plain  of  Syria,  and  Israel  served," 
etc.,  Hosea  12:  13  to  the  end  of  the  book,  for  which  the 
Sefardim  substitute  Hosea  u:  7  to  12:  12,  referring  to 
Jacob's  later  life.  Hence  with  VIII,  the  friendly  meeting  of 
Jacob  and  Esau,  some  of  the  Germans  read  Hosea  n:  7  to 
12:  12;  others  and  all  Sefardim  read  the  book  of  Obadiah,  a 
rebuke  to  Edom,  the  descendants  of  Esau.  IX,  Joseph  sold 
by  his  brethren,  "When  they  sell  the  righteous  for  money," 
etc.,  Amos  2:  6  to  3:  8.  X  sets  out  with  Pharaoh's  dreams; 
hence,  unless  it  is  read  during  Hanucca,  "And  Solomon 
awoke  and  behold  it  was  a  dream,"  leading  to  his  wise  judg- 
ment, i  Kings  3:  15  to  4:1.  Section  XI  begins  with  Judah's 
plea  before  Joseph  and  their  drawing  together;  the  Haf- 
tara, Ezekiel  37:  15-28,  predicts  the  reunion  of  Judah  with 
the  House  of  Joseph,  led  by  Ephraim.  Section  XII  tells 
of  Jacob's  death;  the  Haftara,  i  Kings  2:  1-12,  of  David's 
death;  unfortunately  the  latter  does  not  die  with  only  bless- 
ings on  his  lips  like  the  former.  So  far  in  Genesis. 

Exodus  begins  with  Section  XIII,  the  call  of  Moses, 
also  the  great  increase  of  the  children  of  Israel;  hence  the 
Sefardim  read  the  call  of  Jeremiah,  the  same  Haftara  as  the 
first  of  the  "Punishments"  above;  the  Germans  read  from 


268       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Isaiah,  "In  coming  days  Jacob  will  drive  roots,"  etc.,  27:  6 
to  28:  13,  adding  the  comforting  verses,  ch.  29:  22,  23.  In 
Section  XIV  Moses  is  sent  with  a  threatening  message  to 
Pharaoh;  the  counterpart,  Ezek.  28:  25  to  29:  21,  predicts 
the  sufferings  of  Egypt  under  Nebuchadnezzar.  In  Section 

XV  Moses  is  again  told  to  "go  in  unto  Pharaoh"  with 
threats;  this  is  coupled  with  Jeremiah's  prophecy  against 
Egypt,  ch.  46:  13-28,  with  the  two  beautiful  verses  at  the 
end,  assuring  Israel  that  it  is  indestructible.     In  Section 

XVI  the  main  feature  is  the  Song  on  the  Red  Sea;  the 
Song  of  Deborah  (Judges  5)  is  the  proper  counterpart; 
the  Germans  begin  with  chapter  4,  whereby  the  Haftara 
becomes  inordinately  long.     Section  XVII,  the  revelation 
on  Mount  Sinai,  calls  for  the  vision  of  Isaiah;  chapter  6, 
in  which  the  Seraphim  utter  their  Thrice-Holy.    The  Ger- 
mans add,  rather  awkwardly,  ch.  7:  1-6,  and  the  two  appar- 
ently Messianic  verses,  9:  5,  6.     XVIII  begins  with  the 
law  requiring  the  discharge  of  Hebrew  bondmen  after  a  ser- 
vice of  six  years;  hence  the  narrative,  Jer.  34:  8-22,  on  this 
subject,  with  the  comforting  verses,  ibid.  33:  25,  26,  added. 
The  next  two  sections,  XIX  and  XX,  contain  the  com- 
mands as  to  the  building  of  the  Tabernacle  and  all  its  ves- 
sels; these  are  matched  from  i  Kings  5:  26  to  6:  13,  ais  to 
the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple,  and  Ezek.  43:    10-27, 
about  the  ideal  Temple  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel.    In  XXI  the 
Golden  Calf  and  the  zeal  of  Moses  against  the  idolaters  are 
spoken  of;  Elijah  is  introduced  (i  Kings  18:  I  or  20  to  39) 
as  overthrowing  the  Baal  worship  of  the  Northern  King- 
dom.    The  two  next  sections  (XXII  and  XXIII)  relate 
how  the  Tabernacle  was  built  and  set  up,  the  Haftaroth 
are   taken   from    i    Kings,   ch.   7   and   8;   that   for  Pekude 
(XXIII)  ends  with  ch.  8:  21,  where  Solomon  dedicates  his 
finished  Temple. 

We  now  come  to  Leviticus.  The  first  two  sections 
(XXIV  and  XXV)  give  detailed  laws  as  to  all  kinds  of 
offerings;  both  of  the  Haftaroth,  Isa.  43:  21  to  44:  23, 


THE  LESSON  FROM  THE  PROPHETS  269 

and  Jer.  7:  21  (to  8:  3,  with  9:  22,  23  added  for  com- 
fort, make  rather  light  of  sacrifices.  The  former  dwells 
mainly  on  the  folly  of  idolaters;  the  latter  opens  with  the 
plain  words,  "Add  your  burnt-offerings  to  your  peace- 
offerings  and  eat  flesh."  In  XXVI  the  two  elder  sons 
of  Aaron  die  b'y  fire  from  heaven  for  improperly  handling 
holy  things;  the  same  fate  befalls  David's  friend  Uzza  in 
the  Haftara,  2  Sam.  6:  1-19  (or  to  7:  17).  The  next 
two  sections  (XXVII  and  XXVIII)  deal  with  leprosy; 
the  two  prophetic  lessons  are  both  from  the  story  of  Elisha 
in  the  2d  book  of  Kings;  the  first  speaks  of  Naaman  the 
Syrian  (4:  42  to  5:  19)  whom  Elisha  cured;  the  other  (7: 
3-20)  of  the  four  lepers  who,  during  the  siege  of  Samaria, 
sat  in  the  gate  and  were  the  first  to  learn  of  the  flight  of 
the  besiegers.  XXIX  deals  with  incest;  for  this  and  other 
vices  Israel  is  reproved  by  Ezekiel,  chapter  22:  1-19.  Sec- 
tion XXX  (Kedoshim)  also  rebukes  gross  vices;  and  the 
Sefardim  accompany  it  with  a  kindred  lesson  from  Ezek.  20: 
2-20,  while  the  German  Haftara  for  this  week,  "Are  ye  not 
unto  me  like  children  of  the  Ethiopians,"  Amos  9:  7-15 
has  no  visible  relation  to  the  lesson  from  the  Tora.  Section 
XXXI,  about  the  duties  of  the  Aaronide  priesthood,  is 
illustrated  by  Ezekiel's  prophecy  (ch.  44:  15-31)  as  to  the 
position  of  the  "Priests,  the  Levites,  sons  of  Zadok,"  in  his 
ideal  commonwealth.  Then  XXXII,  on  the  Jubilee  and 
redemption  of  land,  is  illustrated  from  Jeremiah  32:  6-27, 
where  the  prophet,  under  God's  command,  redeems  with 
money  his  cousin's  field,  while  the  Chaldean  army  is  en- 
camped upon  it.  For  XXXIII,  with  its  promises  of  good 
and  evil,  a  good  side-piece  is  found  in  Jeremiah  16:  19  to 
17:  14,  in  which  the  man  who  trusteth  in  human  strength 
and  the  man  who  trusteth  in  God  are  contrasted. 

Next  for  the  book  of  Numbers.  Its  first  section  with  the 
census  of  the  tribes  is  met  by  Hosea's  prophecy,  "The  num- 
ber of  the  children  of  Israel  will  be  like  the  sand  of  the 
sea,"  ch.  2:  1-22.  In  XXXV  is  the  law  of  the  Nazarite; 


270 

the  Haftara,  Judges  13:  2-25,  tells  the  miraculously  an- 
nounced birth  of  Samson,  the  life-long  Nazarite.  The  next 
section  (XXXVI)  begins  with  the  seven-branched  candle- 
stick; Zechariah's  vision  of  the  candlestick  with  its  seven 
pipes  and  lamps  (2:  14  to  4:  7)  follows  it.  In  XXXVII 
Moses  sends  his  scouts  into  the  Holy  Land;  in  the  Haftara 
(Josh.  2:  1-24)  the  spies  sent  out  by  Joshua  to  Jericho  are 
saved  by  Rahab.  In  XXXVIII  Moses,  in  view  of  Korah's 
revolt,  avows  his  disinterestedness;  Samuel  does  so  in 
almost  the  same  words  (i  Sam.  u:  14  to  12:  22),  when  the 
people  ask  him  to  give  them  a  king.  In  XXXIX  the  con- 
quest of  part  of  Ammon's  territory  by  the  Emorites  is  told, 
and  how  this  land  was  conquered  from  the  latter  by  Israel; 
in  the  lesson  from  Judges  n  :  1-33,  we  read  how  the  children 
of  Ammon  sought  to  reclaim  this  district,  and  how  Jephtha 
fought  and  defeated  them.  Section  Balak  (XL)  tells  how 
Balaam  was  forced  to  bless  Israel,  whom  he  sought  to 
curse;  this  is  mentioned  by  Micah  in  the  Haftara  (5:  6 
to  6:  8),  which  winds  up  with  the  summary  of  man's  duty, 
"but  to  do  justice  and  to  love  mercy  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  thy  God." 

The  next  section  {Phinehas)  is  read  either  within  or  before 
the  three  weeks  preceding  the  fast  of  the  Ninth  of  Ab; 
in  the  former  case  the  first  of  the  "Punishments"  is  read 
with  it,  for  which  see  above;  in  the  latter  case,  as  Phinehas 
was  zealous  for  the  Lord,  the  Haftara  (i  Kings  18:  46  to 
19:  21)  introduces  Elijah's  words,  "I  have  been  truly  zeal- 
ous for  the  Lord  the  God  of  Hosts."3 

This  disposes,  with  the  Punishments,  Comforts,  and  Re- 
pentances already  enumerated,  of  all  the  sections  except 
the  last,  which  is  read  on  the  "Joy  of  the  Law,"  and  has  for 
its  Haftara  what  follows  next  in  the  Bible,  the  first  nine  (or 
twenty-one)  verses  of  the  first  chapter  of  Joshua.4 

When  two  sections  are  combined  on  a  Sabbath,  the  Haf- 
tara belonging  to  the  second  prevails.  On  the  Sabbaths 
which  have  short  readings  from  a  second  scroll,  this  reading 


THE  LESSON  FROM  THE  PROPHETS  271 

determines  the  prophetic  lesson.  It  is  for  Shckalim  the 
account  of  King  Joash  gathering  money  contributions  for 
the  repair  of  the  House  (2  Kings  12:  4-17);  for  Zachor 
(Remember  Amalek),  the  death  of  Agag  (i  Sam.  15:  1-34); 
for  Para  (the  Red  Heifer),  a  spiritualized  cleansing,  "I  shall 
sprinkle  upon  you  clean  water,  and  ye  shall  be  clean,  I 
shall  cleanse  you  from  all  your  sins"  (Ezek.  36:  16-38);  for 
Hodcsh  (the  Month),  Ezekiel's  predictions  as  to  the  service 
on  Sabbaths  and  New  Moons,Ezek.  45 :  16  to  46:  18.  On  the 
Sabbath  before  the  Passover,  known  as  the  "Great  Sabbath," 
though  there  is  no  reading  from  a  second  scroll,  there  is 
still  a  special  Haftara:  Malachi,  ch.  3:  4  to  end;  on  account 
of  the  verse,  "I  will  send  you  the  Prophet  Elijah  before  the 
coming  of  the  great  and  fearful  day  of  the  Lord."  On  a 
Sabbath  in  Hanucca  the  same  Haftara  is  read  as  for  section 
XXXVI,  the  vision  of  the  candlestick.  If  there  are  two 
Sabbaths  in  Hanucca,  they  read  on  the  second  from  i  Kings 
7:  40-50 — the  dedication  of  Solomon's  Temple. 

On  a"Sabbath  and  New  Moon" the  66th  chapter  of  Isaiah 
is  read,  by  reason  of  the  verse  (last  but  one,  but  repeated  as 
the  last),  "It  shall  come  to  pass  that  every  month  on  its  new 
moon  and  every  week  on  its  Sabbath,  all  flesh  shall  come  to 
bow  before  me."  When  the  Sabbath  is  not,  but  the  next 
day  (Sunday)  is  a  New  Moon,  a  passage  from  i  Samuel  is 
read  (20:  18-42),  beginning  with  the  words,  "And  Jona- 
than said  unto  David,  to-morrow  is  new  moon."  But  these 
two  last-named  lessons  yield  the  place  not  only  to  Hanucca, 
to  Shckalim,  and  to  Hodcsh,  but  also  to  the  "Punishment" 
on  the  first  of  Ab. 

The  lessons  for  the  Festivals  remain,  and  all  of  these  are 
enumerated  in  the  Talmud.  On  the  first  day  of  the  Pass- 
over, the  celebration  of  the  Passover  in  the  Holy  Land  (Josh. 
5:  2  to  6:  i);  on  the  second  day  the  celebration  as  restored 
by  King  Josiah,  2  Kings  23:  1-9,  21-25;  on  the  Sabbath 
in  the  middle  days,  Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  Valley  of  Bones 
(36:  37  to  37:  14),  for  which  the  reason  is  not  clear.  On  the 


272        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

seventh  day  of  the  Passover,  as  the  lesson  from  the  Tora 
contains  Moses'  thanksgiving  song  on  the  Red  Sea,  the 
great  thanksgiving  of  David  (2  Sam.,  ch.  22).  On  the 
eighth  of  the  Passover,  Isaiah  10:  32  to  the  end  of  chapter 
12,  perhaps  because  the  last  chapter  is  also  a  song  of  joy; 
but  the  Talmud  gives  another  and  not  very  apparent  reason. 

Although  the  Mishna  by  a  majority  of  voices  forbids  the 
public  reading  of  the  "Chariot,"5  Ezekiel's  vision  (ch.  I, 
also  3:  12)  nevertheless  has  become  the  Haftara  for  the  first 
day  of  Pentecost — a  vision  cf  heavenly  things  as  against 
visible  revelation;  the  choice  of  the  third  chapter  of  Ha- 
bakkuk,  which  is  a  Psalm,  for  the  second  day,  seems  to  rest 
either  on  the  word  Shebnoth,  which  it  contains,  or  on  the 
opening,  "O  Lord,  I  have  heard  thy  report,  and  have 
feared,"  as  reminding  of  the  thunders  of  Sinai. 

On  the  fast  of  the  Ninth  of  Ab  the  very  sad  passage  from 
Jeremiah  8:  13  to  9:  23,  is  read  in  the  morning. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year,  the  birth  of  Samuel  and 
the  prayer  of  Hannah,  because  Samuel,  like  Isaac,  was, 
according  to  the  legend,  born  on  the  first  of  Tishri;  on  the 
second  day,  Jeremiah  31:  2-20,  because  the  closing  verse, 
"Is  Ephraim  my  darling  son,"  is  deemed  the  most  impress- 
ive among  the  "Remembrance"  verses. 

On  the  Day  of  Atonement  in  the  morning  Isaiah  is  read 
from  ch.  57:  14  to  the  end  of  58;  the  true  manner  of  making 
the  fast  acceptable  before  God  is  here  taught,  and  in  the 
afternoon  the  Book  of  Jonah  is  read,  because  it  teaches  that 
repentance  to  lead  to  forgiveness  must  be  real  ("and  God 
saw  their  works,  that  they  turned  from  their  evil  ways"). 

A  fit  lesson  for  the  first  day  of  the  Feast  is  found  in  the 
I4th  chapter  of  Zechariah,  where  it  is  predicted  that  all 
nations  will  have  to  celebrate  the  Feast  of  Huts.  On  the 
second  day  the  dedication  of  Solomon's  Temple  by  prayer, 
en  the  "Feast  in  the  seventh"  month,  i  Kings  8:  2-21;  and 
on  the  "Eighth"  from  the  same  chapter,  verses  54-66,  in 


THE  LESSON  FROM  THE  PROPHETS  273 

which  the  eighth  day  (though  of  a  second  week  of  feasting) 
is  specially  named. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  Sabbath  falling  into  the  middle  days, 
they  read  from  Ezekiel  the  prediction  of  the  wars,  in  which 
Gog  of  the  land  Magog,  prince  of  Rosh,Moshoch,and  Tubal, 
is  to  succumb  in  the  Holy  Land  (Ezek.  38:  18  to  39:  16). 
With  the  Haftara  for  the  "J°y  of  the  Law"  already  named, 
this  disposes  of  the  whole  year.6  There  are  a  few  days  when 
the  two  rituals  disagree,  a  few  when  the  Haftara  is  longer 
in  one  (generally  the  German)  than  in  the  other;  but  on  the 
whole  the  agreement  is  very  close,  and  indicates  a  high 
antiquity  for  the  selection.  An  Aggadic  work  of  the  sev- 
enth century,  the  Pesikta,  restored  from  scattered  frag- 
ments by  the  labors  of  Rapoport  and  Zunz,  is  written  as  a 
commentary  upon  eleven  of  our  present  Haftaroth,  which 
must  then  have  been  in  undisputed  use.7  Those  for  the  Festi- 
vals are  indicated  in  the  Talmud  just  as  we  read  them  now, 
except  that  a  prayer  by  Solomon  from  i  Kings  8  is  there 
named,  for  which  the  beginning  of  Joshua  as  the  continua- 
tion of  the  last  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  was  substituted 
afterwards,  the  dispute  not  being  fully  settled  in  the  thir- 
teenth century.  The  first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  which  now 
serves  for  the  last  Sabbath  before  the  fast  of  the  Ninth  of 
Ab,  seems  in  Talmudic  times  to  have  been  read  a  week  ear- 
lier.8 

A  Haftara  ought  to  have  twenty-one  verses,  three  for 
each  man  called  to  the  desk  to  read  in  the  Law;  one  of  the 
Sages  says,  when  an  interpreter  is  employed,  they  should 
stop  at  ten  verses,  in  order  not  to  become  irksome  to  the 
public,  though  the  subject-matter  is  not  finished;  when  it 
is,  ten  verses  always  suffice;  and  one  Haftara  in  the  German 
ritual  (for  Sec.  XXX)  has  only  nine  verses.9 

Another  somewhat  later  authority  says  that  when  the 
lesson  is  translated  or  made  the  subject  for  preaching,  from 
three  to  seven  verses  are  enough  without  benedictions.10 


18 


274        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

That  the  German  Haftara  is  so  often  longer  than  the  Se- 
fardic  happened  probably  be'cause  the  Germans  dropped  the 
habit  of  translating  the  lessons  much  earlier  than  the 
Sefardim. 

Altogether  the  Haftaroth  cover  a  little  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  eight  books  that  are  classed  as  Prophets.  Most 
Jews  and  Jewesses  of  the  old  stripe  know  very  little  of  these 
books  but  what,  in  the  course  of  every  year,  they  read  again 
and  again  in  these  lessons,  which  contain  very  little  history, 
but  much  of  the  ennobling  and  comforting  sentiments  of 
the  second  Isaiah  and  of  other  prophets.  There  are  no  less 
than  thirteen  Haftaroth  from  Isaiah,  chs.  40-66,  and  thir- 
teen from  the  "Twelve."  The  selections  were  made  more  for 
the  heart  than  for  historic  learning. 

It  has  been  noticed  that  in  many  Haftaroth  one  or  more 
verses  are  added  from  a  later  chapter,  and  the  Maftir  even 
skips  from  the  last  chapter  of  Hosea  to  Joel  or  Micah.  This 
skipping  is  expressly  authorized  in  the  Mishna,  while  for- 
bidden to  those  who  read  from  the  Law.11 

Something  must  be  said  about  the  prophet  lessons  which 
went  with  the  Palestinian  cycle  of  three  years.  They  were 
naturally  shorter  than  those  which  go  with  the  one-year 
cycle.  The  Gosipel  of  Luke,  ch.  4,  v.  17,  tells  how  Jesus 
was  called  to  the  desk  as  Maftir  at  Nazareth,  as  any  man 
of  note  coming  into  the  Synagogue  at  his  old  home  would 
be  in  our  own  days.  He  finds  his  place  in  the  Book  of 
Isaiah;  he  reads  two  verses  (61 :  I,  2),  rolls  up  the  book  and 
returns  it  to  the  Slmmmash,  and  then  preaches  upon  what 
he  has  read.  The  lesson  seems  strangely  short,  but  it  might 
have  been  no  longer  had  he  stood  at  the  desk  of  a  Syna- 
gogue in  Galilee  fourteen  hundred  years  later.  A  manu- 
script in  the  Bodleian  Library  gives  a  list  of  the  Haftaroth 
for  about  one-half  of  the  three-years  portions.  They  vary 
from  two  verses  to  twenty-one;  some  of  our  present  Hafta- 
roth are  in  the  list  allotted  to  other  portions  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, e.  g.,  the  lesson  from  Micah  ending,  "and  to  walk 


THE  LESSON  FROM  THE  PROPHETS  275 

humbly  with  thy  God,"  which  we  read  with  the  story  of 
Balaam,  goes  with  Jacob's  flight  to  Haran.  Some  lessons 
in  the  list  allotted  to  one-third  of  a  full  section  are  a  part  of 
that  which  now  goes  with  the  whole;  thus  about  half  of  the 
German  Haftara,  "In  future  Jacob  will  take  root,"  for  the 
first  section  in  Exodus,  is  allotted  here  to  a  "Seder"  within 
that  section.  But  lessons  of  only  four  or  five  verses  are  not 
unusual.  Some  of  the  portions  of  the  Tora  for  which  Hafta- 
roth  are  here  chosen,  such  as  Genesis  21,  seem  to  be  not 
Sabbatic  but  Festival  lessons.  Among  the  forty-five  pro- 
phetic lessons  for  Genesis  there  are  twenty-nine  from  Isaiah, 
one  each  from  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  seven  from  the  Twelve, 
six  from  the  historic  books,  one  in  doubt12  There  are  other 
sources,  disclosing  in  part  the  Haftaroth  for  the  three-years 
cycle,  which  do  not  fully  agree  with  what  is  found  in  this 
manuscript.13 

The  Talmud  refers  occasionally  to  a  Haftara  on  Sabbath 
afternoon,  and  it  is  believed  it  was  taken,  not  from  the 
Prophets,  but  from  Hagiographa.14  The  usage  has  however 
wholly  gone  out;  the  only  Haftaroth  for  afternoons  at  pres- 
ent are  those  for  the  Day  of  Atonement  and  for  other  fasts. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   LITURGY   OF   THE   DESK 

THE  benedictions  before  and  after  each  subsection  having 
of  necessity  been  given  and  explained  heretofore,  we  need 
speak  here  only  of  the  additional  thanks  to  be  rendered 
when  one  who  is  called  to  the  desk  falls  within  the  four 
classes  who  are  to  render  them  under  the  teachings  of 
Psalm  107,  namely:  One  who  arises  from  grave  sickness; 
or  who  is  released  from  prison;  or  who  has  crossed  the  sea; 
or  the  desert;  such  a  one  adds  to  his  benediction  after  read- 
ing the  following: 

Blessed  be  them,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who 
bestowest  favors  on  the  guilty,  and  who  hast  bestowed  on  me 
all  that  is  good. 

The  by-standers  answer: 

He  who  lias  bestowed  good  on  thee,  may  further  bestow  good 
on  thee.  Selah.1 

lie  who  "gives  leave  in  the  prophet"  reads  beside  the 
benedictions  over  his  portion  from  the  Pentateuch  the  fol- 
lowing: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
chosen  goodly  prophets,  and  wast  pleased  with  their  words,  that 
were  truthfully  spoken;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  hast  chosen 
the  Law  and  Moses,  his  servant,  Israel  his  people,  and  true  and 
righteous  prophets. 

And  after  the  prophetic  lesson: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  Rock  of 
all  ages,  righteous  in  all  generations,  the  faithful  God,  who  says 

(276) 


THE  LITURGY  OF  THE  DESK  277 

and  docth,  who  decrees  and  carrieth  out;  all  of  whose  words  are 
truth  and  righteousness.  Thou  art  faithful,  O  Lord,  our  God,  and 
thy  words  are  faithful,  and  not  one  of  thy  words  will  return  un- 
fulfilled. Blessed  be  them,  O  Lord,  the  God,  faithful  in  all  his 
words. 

(Among  the  Sefardim  the  congregation  chimes  in  with 
the  words,  "truth  and  righteousness,"  emeth  vatzedek): 

Have  mercy  on  Zion,  which  is  the  home  of  our  lives;  save  her, 
whose  soul  is  grieved,  speedily  in  our  days.  Blessed  be  thou,  O 
Lord,  who  gladdenest  Zion  in  her  children  (an  older  reading:  who 
buildest  Jerusalem).  Gladden  us,  O  Lord,  our  God,  with  Elijah, 
the  prophet,  thy  servant,  and  with  the  kingdom  of  David,  thy 
anointed;  may  he  soon  come,  that  our  heart  may  rejoice,  and  may 
no  stranger  sit  upon  his  throne,  nor  let  others  inherit  his  glory; 
for  thou  didst  swear  to  him  by  thy  holy  name,  that  his  seed  shall 
never  come  to  an  end.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  Shield  of 
David. 

In  the  service  for  fast  days  and  on  the  afternoon  of  Atone- 
ment there  are  only  these  three  benedictions.2  On  the  Sab- 
bath they  proceed: 

For  the  Law,  and  for  the  service,  and  for  the  prophets,  and  for  this 
Sabbath  day,  which  thou  hast  given  us,  O  Lord,  our  God,  for  holi- 
ness and  rest,  for  glory  and  beauty;  for  all  this  we  thank  and  bless 
thee;  be  thy  name  blessed  by  the  mouth  of  all  that  live,  always 
and  for  evermore.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  sanctifiest  the 
Sabbath. 

On  Festivals  this  benediction  is  modified  like  the  last  part 
of  ;the  "Holiness  of  the  Day"  in  the  Amida.  It  concludes  on 
the  Day  of  Memorial  thus: 

Thy  word  is  true,  and  standeth  forever.  Blessed  be  thou,  O 
Lord,  King  of  all  the  earth,  who  sanctifiest  (the  Sabbath  and) 
Israel  and  the  "Day  of  Memorial"  (or  "the  Day  of  Atonement" 
on  that  day). 

We  have  to  go  back  now  to  the  very  beginning  of  the  cer- 
emonies which  are  bound  up  with  the  lesson.  Butvery  lately, 
first  probably  on  some  Cabbalistic  ground,  but  now  mainly 


278      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

as  a  text  for  singing,  the  Germans  have  introduced  the  re- 
cital of  the  following  lines  before  the  Ark  is  opened  to  take 
out  the  scroll: 

(Ps.  86:  8):  There  is  none  among  the  Gods  like  thee,  O  Lord, 
and  none  like  thy  works.  (Ps.  145:  13):  Thy  Kingdom  is  the  King- 
dom of  all  ages,  and  thy  dominion  lasts  for  all  generations.  The 
Lord  is  King,  the  Lord  has  reigned,  the  Lord  will  reign  forever 
and  ever.  (Ps.  29:  n):  The  Lord  giveth  strength  to  his  people, 
the  Lord  blesseth  his  people  with  peace.  Father  of  mercy,  deal 
after  thy  will  kindly  with  Zion;  build  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  For 
in  thee  alone  we  trust,  King,  high  and  exalted  God,  Lord  of 
Eternities. 

When  the  Ark  is  opened  the  Germans  on  all  occasions, 
except  on  the  "Joy  of  the  Law,"  say: 

(Numbers  10:  35):  It  came  to  pass  when  the  ark  moved  for- 
ward, Moses  would  say:  Arise,  O  Lord,  and  thy  enemies  will 
scatter,  and  those  that  hate  thee  will  flee  before  thee.  (Isa.  2:  3): 
For  from  Zion  the  Law  shall  go  forth,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord 
from  Jerusalem.  Blessed  be  he  who  gave  the  Law  to  his  people 
Israel  in  his  holiness. 

The  Sefardim  begin  on  Sabbaths  and  Festivals  with  the 

verse: 

(Deut.  4:  35):  Unto  thee  it  was  shown  that  thou  mightest  know 
that  the  Lord  is  God,  there  is  none  beside  him. 

Other  verses  follow;  among  them,  "There  is  none,"  etc., 
and  "It  came  to  pass,"  etc.,  as  above.  But  on  work-days 
they  say  nothing  to  accompany  the  opening  of  the  Ark, 
unless  it  be  the  prayer  from  the  Zohar,  given  in  Book  II, 
cli.  XIX,  and  "God,  long-suffering,  etc."  (See  ch.  XVI.) 
On  the  "Joy  of  the  Law,"  when  the  taking  out  of  the 
scrolls  is  the  very  center  of  the  day's  celebration,  the  leader 
gives  out  separately  and  the  congregation  repeats  after  him 
the  vei  ses  cited  above,  beginning, "Unto  thee  it  was  shown," 
and  several  other  verses  from  the  prayer  of  Solomon  in  the 
8th  chapter  of  i  Kings.  These  had  become  stereotyped 


THE  LITURGY  OF  THE  DESK  279 

and  well  remembered  as  early  as  the  eleventh'  century,  and 
poetry  of  easy  grasp  gathered  round  them,  shutting  out 
later  accretions,  which  came  into  use  for  other  Festivals  or 
for  the  Sabbath. 

For  example:  On  all  other  festive  days  it  has  within  the 
last  two  or  three  hundred  years  become  customary  with  the 
Germans,  right  after  the  scrolls  are  taken  from  the  Ark, 
to  sing  three  times  the  "thirteen  qualities"  (Ex.  34:  6,  7;  see 
chapter  on  Day  of  Atonement).  The  custom  came  in  by 
the  Cabbalistic  door,  as  is  shown  by  a  prayer,  "Be  it  thy 
will,"  which  follows;  but  at  present  its  main  strength  is 
musical. 

The  leader  in  prayer  carries  the  scroll  from  the  Ark  to 
the  platform;  when  more  than  one  scroll  is  needed,  the  task 
of  taking  it  out  and  carrying  it  to  the  platform  is  conferred 
as  an  honor  on  some  member  of  the  congregation.  When 
the  platform  is  reached,  the  leader,  holding  up  his  scroll, 
proclaims: 

(Ps.  34:  4):  Ascribe  greatness  to  the  Lord  with  me,  and  let  us 
exalt  his  name  together. 

Such  is  still  the  Sefardic  custom,  and  was  but  recently 
that  of  Western  Germany.  But  within  the  last  fifty  or  sixty 
years  a  not  much  older  Polish  usage  has  altogether  on 
musical  grounds  become  general  among  all  the  Germans; 
that  on  Sabbaths  and  Festivals  the  leader  first  gives  out: 

"Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One," 
which  the  congregation  or  choir  repeats  after  him.  Then  he 
says: 

"One  is  our  God;  great  is  our  Lord;  holy  is  his  name," 
which  is  repeated  in  like  manner.  Then  he  adds  as  above, 
Ascribe  greatness,  etc.  This  is  answered  in  the  German 
ritual  with  the  verse  (i  Chron.  29:  n),  "Thine,  O  Lord,  is 
the  greatness,"  etc.,  which  has  been  set  to  beautiful  music; 
and  the  two  verses,  "Exalt  ye,"  etc.,  from  Psalm  99.  The 
Sefardim  answer  with  these  latter  verses,  to  which  they  add 


28o       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

many  otheis.-  They  proceed  then  to  the  Hagbaha,  or  "hold- 
ing up  high;"  that  is,  the  leader  partly  unrolls  the  scroll, 
and  holding  it  up  high  turns  around  with  it,  so  that  all 
present  can  see  the  written  part.  While  doing  so  he  says 
aloud : 

"This  is  the  law  which  Moses  has  set  before  the  children 
of  Israel."  With  the  Germans  the  Hagbaha  follows  the 
reading,  and  they  add  to  the  above  the  words,  "from  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord,  by  the  hand  of  Moses." 

With  the  Sefardim  thereupon  the  reader  of  the  lesson  or 
the  leader  in  prayer  simply  calls,  "Cohen  come  near  and 
do  thy  duty,"  while  the  Germans  introduce  this  call  thus: 

May  thy  Kingdom  appear  and  be  revealed.  May  he  show  grace 
to  our  remnant,  to  the  remnant  of  his  people  Israel,  for  happy  life 
and  peace.  All  of  you  ascribe  greatness  to  God,  and  show  honor 

to  the  Law!     Cohen  come  near.     Let son  of ,  the  Cohen, 

stand  up. 

Then  in  both  rituals  two  verses  from  Ps.  19,  in  praise 
of  the  Tora,  are  spoken.  Also  (Ps.  18:  31),  "The  God  whcse 
way  is  perfect;  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  tried;  he  is  a  shield 
to  all  that  trust  in  him."  On  Sabbath  the  seven  who  are  to 
read  are  addressed  in  the  seven  Hebrew  words  (Deut.  3:  4), 
"But-ye,  that-cleave  to-the-Lord,  your-God,  are-all  alive 
this-day."  Whereupon  the  first  man  called  says  his  bene- 
diction and  the  reading  begins. 

If  no  Cohen  is  present,  an  Israelite  is  called  with  an  ex- 
planatory remark.  After  each  subsection  an  official  in- 
vokes on  the  man  called  to  the  desk  this  blessing: 

He   who  has   blessed   our   fathers,   Abraham,   Isaac,   and  Jacob, 

may  he  bless  —    —  son  of ;  because  he  has  come  up  in  honor 

of  God,  of  the  -Law,  and  of  the  Sabbath  (or  Festival  or  Day  of 
Judgment);  may  the  Holy  and  Blessed  One  for  this  merit  bless 
and  preserve  him,  send  happiness  and  success  into  all  his  under- 
takings, together  with  all  Israel,  his  brethren,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

If  the  person  called  wishes  to  "offer"  money  to  the  Syna- 
gogue or  a  charity,  the  same  official  will,  at  his  request 


THE  LITURGY  OF  THE  DESK  281 

invokeasimilarblessingby  name  or  description  upon  others, 
and  state  what  offering  is  made.  When  the  blessing  is 
invoked  on  women,  "He  who  blessed  our  mothers,  Sarah, 
Rebekah,  Rachel,  and  Leah,"  is  named. 

The  names  used  in  calling  to  the  desk  and  when  invoking 
blessings  are  the  Hebrew  names,  such  as  Moses,  the  son  of 
Eleazar  (Moshe  ben  El'azar),  with  Hac-Cohcn  or  Hal-Levi 
added,  when  such  addition  fits  the  party.  Not  all  Biblical 
names  are  now  in  use  among  Jews;  and  there  are  a  few 
Aramaic  and  Greek  ones  that  are  fully  recognized  as  "holy 
names,"  Akiba  and  Sheragga  (Lamp)  of  the  former,  Alex- 
ander and  Kalonymos  among  the  latter.  Among  women 
fully  one-half  have  not  Hebrew  names,  but  for  religious 
purposes  only  old  German  names,  handed  down  from 
grandmother  to  granddaughter  or  greatniece  without 
change;  and  the  Sefardim  use  for  their  daughters  current 
Spanish  or  Italian  names,  by  which  they  are  blessed  in  the 
Synagogue.  About  the  only  Hebrew  names  for  women 
still  in  common  use  are  Sarah,  Rebekah,  Rachel,  Leah, 
Deborah,  Hannah,  Hadassah,  Esther,  also  Malca  (queen), 
Ha'ia  (the  living),  which  are  not  Biblical. 

These  "vows"  take  the  place  of  the  contribution  box  in 
Christian  churches,  as  it  is  not  deemed  lawful  to  actually 
handle  money  on  the  Sabbath  or  Festivals. 

When  the  portion  is  finished  the  reader  recites  the  Half 
Kaddish;  among  the  Germans  only  after  the  portion  from 
the  first  scroll  (or  after  the  first  and  second,  when  there  are 
three);  among  the  Sefardim  after  each  scroll,  except  in  the 
afternoon  service,  when  the  Half  Kaddish  before  the  Prayer 
is  supposed  to  rest  on  the  lesson  or  lessons. 

A  number  of  prayers  which  are  spoken  before  the  scroll 
is  returned,  but  not  connected  with  the  lesson,  have  been 
given  in  Book  II,  ch.  XVI;  on  Sabbath  and  Festivals 
among  the  Germans,  with  the  Sefardim  on  all  days.  Ashrc 
is  also  recited  while  the  scroll  remains  out.  Before  return- 
ing it  to  the  Ark  the  leader,  standing  on  the  platform,  lifts 


282       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

it  up  and  sings  from  Ps.  148,  "Let  them  praise  the  name  of 
the  Lord:  for  his  name  alone  is  exalted."  The  congrega- 
tion or  choir  continues: 

His  majesty  is  above  earth  and  heaven.  He  has  lifted  the  horn 
of  his  people,  to  the  praise  of  all  his  saints,  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  the  people  near  unto  him.  Halleluiah. 

Next  in  order  on  Sabbath  mornings,  when  seven  men  are 
called  and  the  divine  law  is  thus  heard  seven  distinct  times, 
is  the  29th  Psalm  with  its  seven  times  recurring,  "Voice  of 
the  Lord."  On  all  other  occasions  the  24th  Psalm  is  spoken, 
with  its  question,  "Who  may  ascend  the  mount  of  the  Lord" 
(that  is,  the  platform  from  which  the  Law  is  read),  and  the 
answer,  "He  who  is  clean  of  hands  and  pure  in  heart." 
Meanwhile  the  scroll  is  slowly  carried  back  to  the  Ark,  and 
when  this  is  opened  the  Germans  speak  the  verse  following 
upon  and  corresponding  to  the  one  spoken  when  the  scroll 
was  taken  out,  viz.: 

(Num.  10:  36):  And  when  it  (the  ark)  rested,  he  would  say: 
Return,  O  Lord,  with  the  myriads  of  thousands  of  Israel.  (Then 
Ps.  132:  8,  9,  10;  Prov.  4:  2.)  (Prov.  3:  18):  She  is  a  tree  of  life  to 
those  who  take  hold  of  her,  and  those  who  grasp  her  firmly  are 
happy.  (Ib.  17):  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  her 
paths  are  peace.  (Lam.  5:  21):  Draw  us  back  unto  thee,  O  Lord, 
and  we  will  return,  renew  our  days  as  of  Old. 

The  Sefardim  recite  only  the  first  and  last  of  these  verses, 
introducing  them  with  two  mi-Biblical  lines. 

Other  verses  and  petitions  are  found  in  the  prayer  books 
as  accompanying  the  scroll  on  its  travels  between  the  Ark 
and  the  desk,  some  of  which  are  omitted  in  one  or  the  other 
place;  some  are  slurred  over.  Those  copied  above,  and  some 
that  are  not,  are  found  in  the  Treatise  of  Scribes,  and  this 
alone  contains  the  benedictions  over  the  prophetic  lesson, 
a  little  longer  than  the  one  now  in  use  and  with  parts  of  it 
still  in  dispute.3 

The  formula  for  calling  up  by  name  must  reach  back  at 


THE  LITURGY  OF  THE  DESK  283 

least  into  the  twelfth  century,  for  the  Mahzor  Vitry  already 
contains  its  poetic  enlargement,  by  which  on  the  "Joy  of 
the  Law"  the  "Bridegroom  of  the  Tora"  (he  who  reads  the 
closing  chapter)  and  the  "Bridegroom  of  Genesis"  (he  who 
reads  ch.  i:  i  to  2:  3  from  Genesis)  are  called  to  the  desk, 
after  the  most  gushing  compliments  to  the  Law  and  to 
them,  with  a  threefold:  Stand  up!  Stand  up!  Stand  up!  and 
blanks  for  the  name  of  the  groom  and  of  his  father. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   FIVE  SMALL   BOOKS 

,  TTTIIKE  are  five  small  books,  composed  at  very  different 
dates,  which  are  comprised  under  the  name  of  the  Five 
Rolls  (McgillotJi):  the  Song  of  Songs,  Ruth,  Lamentations, 
Ecclesiastes,  and  Esther.  These  have  been  allotted  to  five 
seasons  of  the  year,  the  Song  of  Songs  to  the  Passover, 
as  the  time  when  winter  passes  away,  because  of  the  verse, 
"Behold  the  winter  is  gone;"  Ruth  to  the  Feast  of  Weeks, 
as  the  time  of  the  first-fruits,  though  it  is  really  the  time  for 
early  wheat,  and  in  the  book  of  Ruth  they  are  harvesting 
barley;  Ecclesiastes  to  the  Feast  of  Huts  (give  a  share  to 
seven,  also  to  eight);  and  what  is  more  natural  and  more 
important,  Lamentations  to  the  Ninth  of  Ab  and  the  Book 
of  Esther  to  Purim. 

The  three  former  books  are  read  at  the  Synagogue  on 
some  day  of  the  respective  Feasts,  generally  on  a  Sabbath, 
without  any  benediction  or  ceremony,  though  it  seems  that 
formerly  a  benediction  used  to  precede  them.  Every  man 
reads  from  his  own  copy;  no  parchment  scrolls  are  pre- 
pared; the  reading  takes  place  after  the  morning  Prayer 
and  before  the  scrolls  of  the  Law  are  taken  out. 

Witli  Lamentations  there  is  more  ceremony.  On  the 
night  of  the  Ninth  of  Ab  the  leader  chants  them  slowly 
and  plaintively;  the  last  chapter  is  repeated  with  certain 
interjections  of  woe  and  glosses  which  lead  up  to  the  dirges 
that  follow.  In  the  Sefardic  ritual  the  book  b  read  again 
in  the  morning  service.  The  benediction,  which  is  recom- 
mended by  the  "Treatise  of  Scribes"  for  Lamentations,  as 
well  as  for  Canticles  and  Ruth,  has  long  been  dropped;  it 

(284) 


THE  FIVE  SMALL  BOOKS  285 

would  be  too  hard  to  give  thanks  for  the  occasion  which 
calls  for  such  a  lesson.1 

But  it  is  altogether  different  with  the  Book  of  Esther. 
This  is  written  out  on  a  parchment  roll  with  lamp-black 
ink,  in  square  characters,  without  vowels  or  accents,  like  the 
Pentateuch;  this  roll  is  well-known  as  the  Megilla.2  It  is 
read  on  the  night  of  Purim  after  the  evening  service  and 
again  in  the  morning  after  the  "lesson"  of  the  day  from 
the  same  desk.  The  reader  says  these  benedictions  before 
he  begins: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  hast  commanded  us  to 
read  the  Megilla.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the 
world,  who  hast  done  wonders  for  our  fathers;  in  those  days,  at 
this  season.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the 
world,  who  hast  let  us  live,  and  hast  kept  us  up,  and  made  us 
reach  this  time. 

The  first  and  second  (though  not  the  third)  of  these 
benedictions  are  again  spoken  in  the  morning  before  the 
book  is  read.3 

To  render  the  recital  of  this  book  more  solemn  the  people 
break  in  at  the  following  verses,  reading  them  before  the 
reader:  At  verse  5  of  chapter  2,  in  which  Mordecai  is 
named  for  the  first  time*;  at  verse  15  of  chapter  8,  telling  of 
Mordecai's  triumph,  and  again  at  the  following  verse:  "The 
Jews  had  light  and  gladness  and  joy  and  honor;"  then  at 
verses  7,  8,  9,  10  of  chapter  9,  with  the  names  of  Hainan's 
ten  sons;  and  at  the  last  verse  of  the  whole  book,  as  they 
do  at  the  close  of  the  Pentateuch. 

After  the  book  is  finished  the  reader  and  the  others  pres- 
ent join  in  this  benediction: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world;  who 
strives  in  our  quarrel,  and  who  judges  our  cause,  and  wreaks  our 
vengeance,  and  requites  to  all  our  enemies  their  just  deserts,  and 
punishes  our  enemies.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  dealest  out 
punishment  to  Israel's  enemies,  the  God,  the  Deliverer.5 


286       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

This  benediction  and  the  following  short  piece  (not  yet 
enriched  by  the  fourfold  rhyme)  are  found  in  the  Treatise 
of  Scribes: 

The  lily  of  Jacob  rejoiced  and  was  glad,  when  all  beheld  the 
rich  blue  of  Mordecai.  Their  salvation  was  everlasting;  their  hope 
reached  through  all  generations.  It  was  made  known,  that  men 
hoping  to  thee  shall  not  be  put  to  shame;  nor  shall  those  who 
trust  in  thee  ever  have  to  blush.  Cursed  is  Haman,  who  sought 
to  undo  me;  blessed  be  Mordecai,  the  Jehudi;  cursed  Zeresh,  wife 
of  him  who  troubled  me;  blessed  Esther,  my  shield  and  shading 
tree!  Even  Harbona  be  mentioned  for  good! 

The  reading  of  Canticles  on  the  Passover  and  Ruth  on 
Pentecost  is  witnessed  by  the  Treatise  of  Scribes  as  being 
then  a  well-known  custom,  but  they  were  read  at  night  at 
the  home  rather  than  in  the  Synagogue.  Phrases  from 
Ecclesiastes  are  found  in  some  of  the  Piyutim  for  the 
Eighth  of  the  Feast,  and  the  Song  of  Songs  is  woven  all 
through  those  for  the  Passover;  a  good  proof  of  the  age  of 
these  compositions.  In  the  thirteenth  century  men  were 
yet  divided,  whether  to  read  Ecclesiastes  in  the  Hut  or  in 
the  Synagogue,  nor  had  the  proper  time  for  Canticles  been 
fully  decided. 

The  Book  of  Lamentations  must  have  become  the  chief 
lesson  for  the  Ninth  of  Ab  very  soon  after  the  last  Temple 
was  destroyed.  It  had  been  written  on  a  similar  sad  occa- 
sion at  a  time  when  the  Hebrew  language  and  the  poetic 
genius  of  the  Jewish  people  were  at  their  highest.  No  one 
could  write  anything  more  sublime  or  soul-stirring  than  the 
dirges  ascribed  to  Jeremiah. 

A  Baraitha,  which  by  its  pure  Hebrew  seems  to  prove  its 
antiquity,  says:  On  the  Ninth  of  Ab  it  is  unlawful  to  read 
the  Law,  the  Prophets,  or  the  Holy  Writings;  but  one  reads 
in  the  Lamentations,  and  in  Job,  and  the  sad  parts  of  Jere- 
miah. As  the  former  book  is  so  short,  when  the  habit  to 
read  "in  it"  was  once  established,  it  must  soon  have  ex- 
tended to  reading  the  whole  of  it.  To  read  Job  is  still  the 


THE  FIl'E  SMALL  BOOKS  287 

custom  among  the  Sefardim,  but  only  chapters  I,  2,  3,  and 
42  are  read  aloud  at  the  Synagogue.6 

While  the  Mishna  is  silent  about  the  public  reading  of 
the  other  four  rolls,  a  whole  treatise  is  named  Megilla,  after 
the  Rook  of  Esther;  the  lessons  from  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets  are  treated  in  the  latter  part  of  the  treatise  as  if 
they  were  of  lesser  importance.  In  Jerusalem  and  other 
cities  that  were  already  fortified  in  the  days  of  Joshua,  the 
son  of  Nun,  Purim  is,  as  in  Susa,  kept  on  the  I5th  instead 
of  the  I4th  of  Adar.7  When  the  month  of  Adar  is  doubled, 
Purim  is  celebrated  in  the  second  month  of  that  name.8 
The  benediction  after  the  reading  of  the  Megilla  is  said  to 
be  a  matter  of  custom;  it  should  be  recited  or  omitted 
according  to  the  usage  of  the  country  or  town. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  INTERPRETER,  OR  METHURGAMAN 

NEHEMIAH  speaks  in  his  last  chapter  of  his  efforts,  which 
must  have  been  vain,  to  keep  up  among  his  compatriots 
the  classic  idiom  of  Judea  pgainst  the  inroads  of  dialects 
from  the  Philistian  and  Phoenician  coast.  Yet  these  dia- 
lects were  at  least  Hebrew.  Three  hundred  years  later,  in 
the  days  of  the  Maccabees,  the  people  of  Judea  no  longer 
spoke  Hebrew;  they  used  it  in  prayer,  in  the  study  of  their 
sacred  law,  and  in  writing  poetry.  Aramaic,  infiltrated  to 
some  extent  with  Hebrew  and  with  Babylonian,  in  which 
about  one-half  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  is  written,  seems  in 
those  days  to  have  been  the  spoken  language  of  Judea. 
Legal  documents,  such  as  marriage  contracts  and  bills  of 
divorce,  were  drawn  up  in  Aramaic.  In  Galilee  the  Phoeni- 
cian dialect  of  Hebrew  may  have  held  its  own  a  little 
longer,  but  the  Aramaic  of  Syria  crowded  it  out.  In  the 
time  covered  by  the  Gospel  narrative  it  seems  that  Aramaic 
was  the  common  language  of  intercourse,  both  in  the  north 
and  in  the  south,  though  many  of  the  wealthier  folk  spoke, 
and  all  men  of  education  understood,  the  Greek  language 
also.1 

Thus  the  Methurgaman,or  Interpreter, came  into  the  Syn- 
agogue. The  Mishna,  in  speaking  of  a  person  reading  the 
Law  or  Prophets  at  the  desk,  says:  He  gives  out  only  one 
verse  at  a  time  to  the  Methurgaman  from  the  Law  and  not 
more  than  three  from  the  Prophets;  where  a  verse  treats  of 
a  separate  subject,  then  only  that  one  verse;  and  it  names 
several  passages  from  both  which  are  "read  but  are  not 
translated."2 

(288) 


THE  INTERPRETER,  OR  METHURGAMAN  289 

The  Methurgaman  was  not  allowed  to  read  from  a  book, 
in  order  to  keep  the  difference  between  the  sacred  text  and 
a  translation  clear  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers;  but  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  rule  against  his  having  a  book  at 
home  from  which  to  study  up  the  clay's  lesson.  His  render- 
ing followed  the  tradition;  it  was  governed  by  the  Rab- 
binic schools,  and  it  was  a  ready  means  for  keeping  in 
the  people's  memory  the  accepted  meaning  of  obscure  pass- 
ages. Thus  we  find  in  the  "Targum  (translation)  Onkelos," 
which  is  the  authorized  version,  that  the  four  species  named 
in  Leviticus  23,  to  be  handled  on  the  Feast  of  Huts,  are 
"citrons,  palm  leaves,  myrtles,  and  willows." 

"Onkelos"  is  corrupted  from  Akylas,  the  Greek  for 
Aquila.  A  convert  from  Pontus  by  that  name  turned  the 
Bible  into  either  Greek  or  Aramaic,  while  R.  Akiba  taught, 
but  long  after  public  readings  were  in  use.  The  older 
writers  always  speak  of  Onkelos  as  the  convert,  identifying 
him  with  Akylas;  many  modern  writers  believe  that  the 
Targum  which  goes  by  his  name  is  only  the  old  tradition  put 
into  writing  by  one  or  more  unknown  hands  and  not  earlier 
than  the  third  century.3 

The  version  is  pretty  literal,  but  in  seeking  to  prevent 
all  misconceptions  about  God  it  gives  him  practically  but 
one  name,  placing  the  mark  of  the  double  or  treble  Jod, 
which  is  read  Adonai,  not  only  for  the  Tetragrammaton, 
but  for  Elohim.  Where  the  latter  word  is  used  in  a  profane 
sense,  such  as  "the  gods  of  Egypt,"  Onkelos  turns  it  into 
"the  errors,"  that  is,  the  idols.  Where  the  Bible  speaks  of 
God  somewhat  boldly,  as  if  he  came  clown  or  appeared 
bodily,  Onkelos  interposes  "the  Word  of"  (Memra  d'}  before 
the  Sacred  Name.  Only  a  few  passages  are  paiaphrased 
in  a  poetic  vein,  as  by  giving  an  allegoric  meaning  to  geo- 
graphical names.  The  rule  for  the  observant  Jew  is  dur- 
ing every  week  to  read  the  portion  at  home  twice  in  text 
and  once  in  Targum;  hence  the  latter  is  published  in  most 
19 


2QO       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Jewish  editions  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  it  serves  as  a  basis 
for  all  commentaries. 

A  Targum  of  the  eight  prophetic  books,  ascribed  to  Jon- 
athan ben  Uzziel,  a  survivor  of  the  Temple,  is  more  para- 
phrase than  version;  it  is  full  of  legend, and  it  accommodates 
older  events  to  the  spirit  of  his  own  time.  This,  as  far  as  we 
can  see,  was  used  to  accompany  the  prophetic  lessons  while 
these  were  read  with  Targum,  as  shown  by  examples  in  the 
Mahzor  Vitry. 

The  lessons  from  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  were  thus 
for  centuries  interspersed  with  an  Aramaic  version  in  all 
those  countries  in  which  Greek  was  not  the  common 
tongue,  even  when  Aramaic  was  no  longer  spoken,  and  was 
understood  less  than  Hebrew.  One  of  the  Talmudic  Sages 
protested,  saying:  Let  us  have  Hebrew  and  Persian  in  the 
East,  Hebrew  and  Greek  in  the  West  (i.  e.,  in  Palestine).4 
The  Grand  Rabbis,  bearing  the  title  of  Gaon,  however,  in- 
sisted to  the  last  (1040)  on  reading  with  Targum,  though  at 
their  own  home  Arabic  had  for  centuries  been  the  only  lan- 
guage of  conversation.  They  claimed  that  Onkelos  taught 
the  traditional  meaning  of  the  Tora,  and  was  indispensable 
on  that  ground.  In  many  places  an  unreasoning  conserva- 
tism holding  on  to  usages  that  have  outlived  themselves 
sustained  the  Gaons.  In  Yemen,  at  the  date  of  this  writing, 
a  boy  stands  by  the  desk,  turning  every  verse  as  it  is  read 
into  the  Aramaic  of  Onkelos.5  The  Talmud  itself  does 
not  treat  the  reading  of  the  Targum  as  obligatory  in  all 
cases,  as  is  seen  by  the  rule  already  quoted  from  it,  that 
shorter  prophetic  lessons  may  be  read  where  time  is  spent 
in  translation  than  where  they  proceed  without  it.  The 
Code  of  R.  Joseph  Karo  flatly  declares  the  public  recital 
of  an  Aramaic  version  as  out  of  date,  on  the  ground  that 
the  people  no  longer  understand  it.6 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  Jews  of  France,  to  judge 
by  the  Mahzor  Vitry,  still  heard  the  paraphrase  of  Jonathan 


THE  INTERPRETER,  OR  METHURGAMAN  291 

read  with  the  Haftara  on  Festivals  in  the  old-fashioned  way 
after  each  verse  of  the  original. 

Attempts  to  introduce  a  running  translation  of  the  lesson 
into  some  language  other  than  Aramaic  were  made  from 
time  to  time,  but  these  never  led  to  a  general  or  permanent 
custom.  Only  within  living  memory  congregations  have 
undertaken  to  read  the  Haftara  in  German,  English, 
French,  etc.,  either  in  addition  to  or  as  a  substitute  for  the 
Hebrew  text.  The  publication  of  printed  copies  of  the 
Bible  has  enabled  those  who  are  ignorant  of  Hebrew  to 
understand  the  lessons  much  better  by  perusal  than  they 
could  from  listening  to  a  Methurgaman.  The  Mishna 
teaches  that  the  Book  of  Esther  may  be  read  to  "women 
speaking  another  tongue"  in  that  tongue,  and  the  man  who 
reads  it  to  them  thus  has  discharged  his  own  duty, 
although  he  understands  Hebrew  and  knows  the  square 
writing.7  The  modern  standards  follow  the  Mishna  herein, 
but  a  somewhat  bigoted  attachment  to  the  old-fashioned 
roll  has  nullified  this  permission.  The  women  generally 
preferred  to  hear  the  Book  of  Esther  read  from  that  roll 
and  get  at  the  story  at  some  other  time  by  reading  it  or 
hearing  it  read  in  an  embellished  paraphrase.  Indeed,  such 
a  paraphrase  of  the  Pentateuch  did  for  several  hundred 
years  supply  to  them  the  place  of  a  translator  of  the  five 
Books  of  Moses. 

There  have  been  and  are  some  curious  survivals  of  the 
Methurgaman.  We  find  from  the  Mahzor  Vitry  that  at 
its  date  it  was  the  custom  in  France  on  the  Pentecost  to  give 
out  the  Targum  after  each  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  and 
moreover  to  introduce  this  rendition  by  a  poem  in  the 
same  tongue.  Thus  to  treat  the  most  solemn  part  of  God's 
word  looks  to  us  like  blasphemy,  and  we  are  glad  that  the 
custom  has  gone  out.  But  it  has  left  its  trace  in  the  long 
Aramaic  poem  (Akdamoth  Millitt),  which  is  still  chanted  in 
Synagogues  of  the  German  ritual  on  the  first  day  of  Pente- 


292       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

cost  after  the  first  verse  of  the  Law  lesson,  and  in  a  short 
poem  in  the  same  language,  which  is  read  in  many  Syna- 
gogues on  the  second  day  after  the  first  line  of  the  Haf- 
tara.8 

Again,  the  Sefardim  still  read  on  the  Ninth  of  Ab,  after 
every  Hebrew  verse  of  the  Haftara  (Jer.  8:  13  to  9:  23),  a 
Spanish  version  of  the  Aramaic  paraphrase  known  as  the 
Targum  Jonathan.  Herein  Jeremiah's  thrilling  words  are 
made  to  fit  the  second  rather  than  the  first  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  His  lament  that  "they  have  cast  down  our 
dwellings"  is  turned  into  the  complaint,  destruycron  los  ene- 
migos  todas  las  Sinagogas  y  lugares  de  estudio  (the  ene- 
mies have  destroyed  all  the  Synagogues  and  houses  of 
study),  which  Nebuchadnezzar's  soldiers  could  not  have 
done,  as  there  were  then  none  to  destroy. 

Greek  stood  on  its  own  footing.  The  Alexandrians  read 
their  services  and  lessons  therein,  most  of  them  knowing 
little  or  no  Hebrew.  A  Greek  scroll  was  as  sacred  to  them 
as  that  in  holy  tongue  and  character  was  elsewhere.  A 
Patriarch  who  held  it  unlawful  to  write  versions  of  the 
sacred  books  in  other  tongues  held  Greek  editions  to  be 
lawful.  While  versions  of  Esther  in  Coptic  or  Median 
might  be  read  only  to  those  speaking  the  particular  lan- 
guage, a  Greek  text  might  be  read  to  the  general  public.0 

But  all  this  is  ancient  history  without  bearing  on  later 
times.  The  great  settlements  of  Greek-speaking  Jews  were 
broken  up,  North  Africa  and  Palestine  became  Arabic,  and 
the  language  of  Homer  and  Plato,  so  much  admired  by  the 
Sages  of  Tiberias,  became  flat  and  stale  in  the  mouth  of 
monks,  pedants,  and  rabble,  and  was  disfigured  by  Latin 
and  Slavonic  admixture.  Later  Jewish  writers  would  no 
longer  recognize  in  the  Romaic  of  their  time  the  language 
of  poetry,  of  learning,  and  of  deep  thought  which  their 
ancestors  had  so  highly  prized.10 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PREACHING 

THE  Hebrew  word  for  preaching-  means  literally  to 
search,  that  is,  to  search  the  Scriptures.  A  sermon  is  called 
Derasha,  an  act  or  the  result  of  searching;  a  professional 
preacher  of  the  old  stripe  was  known  as  a  Darshan,  some- 
times a  Maggid,  that  is,  one  who  tells,  who  strings  out  what 
has  in  former  chapters  been  defined  as  Haggada  or  Ag- 
gadta.  But  there  has  been  preaching  of  dry  law  to  the 
exclusion  of  legendary  lore  and  of  sentimental  interpreta- 
tion. Only  in  very  modern  times  some  preachers  have 
faithfully  undertaken  to  draw  good  instruction  and  ennob- 
ling sentiment  from  the  true  and  natural  sense  of  Scrip- 
ture and  from  the  highly  poised  moral  teachings  of  the 
Mishna.1  With  many  even  in  our  days  to  preach  means  to 
interpret  Scripture  in  an  ever  new  and  ever  varying  and 
vanishing  fashion. 

"The  Sages  teach  that  Moses  already  laid  down  the  rule 
that  they  should  inquire  and  preach  about  the  business  of 
the  day,  the  rules  of  the  Passover  on  the  Passover,  the  rules 
of  Pentecost  on  the  Pentecost,  the  rules  of  the  Feast  (of 
Huts)  on  the  Feast."2 

As  the  lesson  for  the  festival  touched  upon  its  laws,  it 
formed  the  readiest  text  for  a  sermon  upon  them,  and  if  the 
preacher  was  inclined  rather  to  moralize,  to  rebuke,  to  com- 
fort, or  to  inspire  with  hopes,  he  could  bring  before  his 
hearers  the  legends  and  the  free  handlings  of  Scripture  con- 
nected with  the  sacred  day.  On  the  Sabbath  he  had  no 
special  laws  to  discuss,  but  he  found  a  new  text  every  week 
in  its  portion  from  the  Law  or  in  the  lesson  from  the 

(293) 


294      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Prophets.  Here  again  the  incident  told  in  the  Gospel  of 
Luke  is  instructive.  When  Jesus  had  finished  the  lesson 
from  Isaiah  he  immediately  preached  on  the  verses  which 
he  had  read.  And  an  authority  of  the  seventh  or  eighth 
century  (already  quoted)  speaks  of  shortening  the  Prophet 
lesson  when  it  is  translated  cr  preached  upon.  The  Midrash 
Rabba,  that  great  store-house  of  Jewish  homiletic  lore,  is 
in  the  main  a  collection  of  seimon  heads,  many  of  which 
are  available  to  this  day.3 

The  usual  time  for  preaching  is  in  the  Synagogues  of  the 
German  ritual  still,  as  it  was  when  the  Gospels  or  when  the 
"Treatise  of  Scribes"  was  written,  either  immediately  after 
the  Prophet  lesson  with  its  benedictions,  or  a  little  later, 
after  the  scroll  has  been  returned  to  the  Ark  and  before  the 
Additional.  With  the  Sefardim  the  sermon  is  generally 
put  off  till  after  the  Additional,  that  is,  to  the  very  end  of 
the  forenoon  services.  The  wonder-working  "Rebby"  of 
the  Hasidim  delivers  his  talks  generally  to  a  crowd  gathered 
round  his  table,  and  his  talk  is  full  of  Cabbalistic  lore; 
he  does  not  disdain  the  presence  of  outsiders  (Misnagdim, 
i.  e.,  adversaries).  In  the  night  of  Atonement  Day  it  has 
been  usual  for  the  Rabbi  to  rebuke  sin  and  to  preach  repent- 
ance, but  never  on  Friday  evening  or  in  the  night  service 
of  the  Festivals;  and  this  for  two  reasons,  first,  the  women 
did  not  attend;  secondly,  the  men  were  not  to  be  delayed 
from  the  Sabbath  or  Festival  supper,  which  was  deemed 
religiously  more  important  than  the  exercises  of  the  Syna- 
gogue. 

The  great  meetings  held  near  the  Babylonian  schools  on 
the  Sabbath  before  the  Passover  and  a  Sabbath  before  the 
Day  of  Atonement  have  already  been  mentioned;  they  have 
survived  in  the  rule  that  a  Rabbi  ought  to  preach  on  the 
"Great  Sabbath,"  i.  e.,  the  one  immediately  preceding  the 
Passover,  and  on  the  "Sabbath  of  Repentance,"  if  he  does 
not  at  other  times.  And  many  Jewish  communities  have 


PREACHING  295 

been  satisfied  with  such  a  scant  allowance  of  the  "living 
word."  Even  when  preaching  at  stated  intervals  was 
thought  proper,  a  sermon  once  in  each  lunar  month,  on  the 
Sabbath  on  which  the  next  New  Moon  is  announced,  was 
deemed  sufficient.  The  almost  universal  ability  of  men 
and  widespread  ability  of  women  to  read  books  made 
preaching  less  indispensable  than  it  was  among  the  more 
illiterate  Christians  of  the  middle  ages.  In  comparatively 
modern  times  the  travelling  Maggid  often  attracted  great 
crowds  of  men  only  when  his  programme  was  "sharpness," 
that  is,  hair-splitting  discussion  of  Talmudic  problems;  of 
both  men  and  women,  when  he  proposed  to  speak  in  the 
way  of  the  Aggadta.  The  discourses  of  a  speaker  of  this 
class  would  run  on  for  two  hours  or  more  at  a  stretch,  and 
could  not  be  wedged  in  between  the  two  forenoon  Prayers; 
the  audience  would  come  on  purpose  in  the  afternoon  to 
hear  him. 

The  problem,  how  to  find  proper  preachers,  confronted 
the  Jews  of  Germany  and  Austria  (and  to  some  extent  of 
England  and  America)  most  seriously  in  the  first  quarter 
of  tne  nineteenth  century.  Many  Jews  in  commerce  or  in 
professional  life  and  their  wives  and  daughters  had  the 
advantages  of  modern  culture;  they  spoke  the  language  of 
their  country  with  purity,  often  with  elegance;  they  had 
some  slight  knowledge  at  least  of  history  and  of  science," 
and  expected  the  truths  of  religion  to  be  illustrated  from 
these  fields  of  human  endeavor.  But  the  Rabbis  who 
should  have  instructed  them  or  kept  religious  feelings  alive 
in  their  breasts  spoke  nothing  but  an  uncouth  jargon,  knew 
nothing  but  Bible  and  Talmud,  not  even  Hebrew  Grammar, 
and  for  that  reason  did  not  know  even  the  Bible  and  Talmud 
correctly.  The  old-fashioned  Dcrasha  would  not  suit  the 
leading  members,  but  the  Rabbi,  or  Maggid,  was  unable 
to  furnish  any  other  mental  food. 

This  difficulty  has  been  in  a  great  measure  overcome  in 


296       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

all  those  parts  of  Europe  in  which  laymen  and  women  in  any 
great  number  are  posses;ed  of  the  culture  of  the  day  and 
country.  Rabbis  and  preachers  are  found  who  share  it  in 
a  like  or  even  higher  degree. 


BOOK  IV 

Incidents  and  Ceremonies 


BOOK  IV 

INCIDENTS  AND   CEREMONIES 

CHAPTER  I 

POSTURE,  SOUND,  THOUGHT 

THE  ordinary  posture  at  worship  is  to  sit.  With  a  partial 
exception  in  countries  east  of  Palestine  affected  by  Moslem 
habits,  the  Synagogues  are  and  ever  have  been  fitted  with 
seats.1  The  word  "Amida"  (Standing),  applied  to  the 
eighteen  benedictions,  and  the  term  "seated,"  denoting 
certain  acts  of  worship  outside  of  it,  prove  this,  and  stray 
passages  of  the  Mishna  attest  it.2  But  while  the  congrega- 
tion sits,  the  leader  in  prayer,  the  reader  of  the  lesson,  those 
who  are  "called"  to  the  desk  and  virtually  read  their  por- 
tions, the  presiding  officers  who  are  at  the  desk  during 
the  reading,  and  the  preacher  during  his  discourse,  stand, 
as  do  the  priests,  with  hands  uplifted  before  them,  when 
they  impart  the  blessing.3 

While  some  ascetics  remain  on  their  feet  as  long  as  they 
stay  in  the  House  of  God,  the  worshipper  is  required  by 
rule  to  stand  only:  first,  while  reciting  the  Amida,  and 
while  the  leader  repeats  the  first  three  benedictions,  includ- 
ing the  Thrice-Holy;  second,  while  he  gives  out  the  respon- 
sive parts  of  the  service  (Bless  ye,"  etc.,  and  the  Kaddish), 
and  the  mourners  stand  at  their  Kaddish;  third, at  the  Psalms 
of  Praise  on  Feasts,  New  Moons,  and  Hanucca;  fourth,  at 
the  confession  of  sins;  fifth,  whenever  the  Ark  is  open,  as 
at  the  taking  out  and  return  of  the  scroll;  but  especially 

(299) 


300      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

on  the  Festivals  some  passages,  deemed  more  impressive, 
are  honored  by  the  opening  of  the  Ark,  that  the  congrega- 
tion may  stand  up.4  Standing  at  a  few  other  passages  is 
usual  and  enjoined  by  some  of  the  standards,  but  it  is  not 
deemed  important  enough  for  special  mention. 

During  the  lesson  from  the  Law  the  people  stand  only 
when  the  following  passages  are  read:  The  Red  Sea  Song 
(Exodus  15),  the  first  version  of  the  Decalogue  (Exodus 
20),  the  second  version  (Deuteronomy  5),  the  last  three 
verses  of  Deuteronomy;  at  these  last  all  rise,  reciting  them 
in  chorus  before  the  reader.5 

When  the  worshipper  stands  in  the  Prayer,  he  turns  his 
face  towards  Jerusalem  (at  least  if  the  Synagogue  is  built 
with  the  Ark  in  that  direction),  in  accordance  with  King 
Solomon's  words,  "They  will  pray  towards  this  House." 
The  Mishna,  speaking  of  one  who  is  journeying  in  a  boat 
or  on  a  ra*ft,  says,  if  he  cannot  turn  his  face  towards  the 
Holy  of  Holies,  he  should  turn  his  heart  towards  it.  In  the 
Prayer  the  worshipper  also  stands  in  the  most  respectful 
attitude,  his  feet  close  together;  at  its  conclusion  he  steps 
backward,  like  a  servant  in  the  presence  of  his  master.6 

He  is  guarded  against  disrespect  from  others;  no  one  is  to 
sit  down  within  four  cubits;  none  should  pass  before  him.7 

Though  the  first  verse  of  the  Shcma  is  the  weightiest 
part  of  the  service,  yet  the  worshipper  need  not  rise  when  he 
reaches  it,  but  retains  any  respectful  position  he  then  occu- 
pies. Shammafs  school  thought  that  to  fulfill  the  words  of 
the  Law,  "when  them  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest,"  we 
should  read  the  Shema  at  night  lying  down  and  standing 
up  in  the  morning;  but  the  school  of  Hillel,  which  prevailed, 
relied  on  the  words,  "when  thou  sittest  in  thy  house,  and 
when  thou  walkest  by  the  way."  (A  deep  moral  underlies 
this  view;  religion  must  be  in  and  with  us  whatever  we  do.)8 

Kneeling  (unless  for  a  few  moments)  does  not  now  belong 
to  Jewish  worship;  it  did  when  the  Book  of  Daniel  was  writ- 
ten, for  its  hero  prays  thrice  a  day  on  his  knees,  and  the 


POSTURE,  SOUND,   THOUGHT  301 

Talmud  speaks  of  some  great  Rabbis  who,  when  praying 
in  private,  knelt  and  prostrated  themselves.9  In  the  Tem- 
ple, when  the  High  Priest  three  times,  in  the  three  confes- 
sions of  sin,  pronounced  the  otherwise  unpronounceable 
Name,  the  people  "knelt  and  bowed  down  and  fell  on  their 
faces,"  which  is  still  done  among  the  Jews  of  the  German 
and  Polish  ritual  when  the  Atonement  service  is  recited. 
They  also  suit  the  action  to  the  word  when,  on  Memorial 
Day  and  the  Day  of  Atonement,  the  words,  "We  kneel  and 
bow  down,"  are  reached,  while  the  Sefardim  on  both  occa- 
sions are  satisfied  with  a  curtsy.10 

Bowing  the  head  forward  seems  natural  to  a  man  in 
devout  supplication.  But  our  Sages  feared  that  frequent 
bowing  would  degenerate  into  mock  humility,  and  re- 
stricted the  habit,  so  that  one  reciting  the  eighteen  or  seven 
benedictions  of  the  Prayer  should  bow  the  head  only  at 
the  beginning  and  close  of  the  first  (Fathers)  and  of  the 
last  but  one  (Thanks);  following  therein  the  warning  in 
Isaiah  58,  "Is  it  to  bend  the  head  like  a  bulrush?"11 

When  the  penitential  Psalm  is  recited  in  public,  men  sit 
and  lean  forward  with  the  head  resting  on  one  arm,  as  a 
mark  of  sorrow  and  remorse,  much  as  they  do  in  American 
churches.12 

The  Jews  all  over  the  world  have  long  had  the  habit  (only 
broken  in  upon  by  modern  culture)  of  swaying  the  body 
backward  and  forward  at  their  devotions,  justifying  it  by 
the  Psalm  verse  (35:  10),  "All  my  bones  shall  say,  my  Lord, 
who  is  like  thee!"  Among  the  several  explanations  of  the 
rise  of  this  habit  the  most  rational  is  found  in  the  nervous 
temperament  of  the  Jew,  who  likes  to  speak  with  his  whole 
body,  not  only  to  God,  but  to  his  fellow-men.13 

The  covering  of  the  head  may  be  here  mentioned.  The 
Bible  tells  us  that  the  priests  within  the  Tabernacle  wore 
miters  and  head-tires;,  in  fact,  the  High  Priest  could  hardly 
be  thought  or  even  dreamed  of  without  his  miter.14  To  the 
people  at  large,  men  and  women,  as  with  the  dwellers  of 


302       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Western  Asia  now,  the  head-cover  was  a  matter  of  course. 
A  woman  with  uncovered  head  was  deemed  immodest;  a  man 
in  like  guise  was  in  undress,  like  a  European  when  in  shirt 
sleeves,  or  worse.  If  once  in  the  Talmud  the  covered  head 
is  spoken  of  as  conducive  to  piety,  it  is  simply  because  the 
uncovered  head  was  deemed  slovenly  and  indecent.  A  Jew 
would  always  put  on  his  turban,  made  of  a  kerchief,  when 
he  got  out  of  bed,  along  with  his  belt  and  shoes  or  sandals.15 

But  to  the  Romans  it  was  a  matter  of  pride  to  brave  sun- 
shine and  rain  with  uncovered  head.  When  they  invaded 
the  Holy  Land,  the  covered  or  uncovered  head  became  a 
badge  of  distinction  between  the  Jew  and  the  invading  for- 
eigners; and  so  it  was  in  Jewish  settlements  elsewhere.  The 
Romans  also  demanded  of  their  Asiatic  subjects  that  they 
should,  as  a  mark  of  respect,  doff  their  headgear  when 
addressed  by  the  representatives  of  the  Emperor.16 

Hence  when  Paul  of  Tarsus  set  forth  his  views  to 
churches  made  up  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  intending  to  fuse 
both  elements  into  a  new  communion  rather  than  a  Jewish 
sect  like  that  over  which  James  presided  at  Jerusalem,  he 
demanded  that  the  men  should  sit  in  church  with  uncovered 
head  as  the  surest  method  of  breaking  the  lingering  tie 
between  the  Church  and  the  Synagogue.17  From  this  com- 
mand in  Paul's  Epistle  comes  the  Christian  custom,  by 
which  the  bare  head  alone  is  admissible  in  worship,  or 
wherever  else  respect  is  to  be  shown  to  anyone;  probably 
the  lifting  of  the  hat  in  salutation  had  its  rise  when  Chris- 
tians meeting  each  other  took  it  off  as  a  mark  of  recogni- 
tion.18 

Modern  standards  of  Rabbinic  law,  written  in  or  for 
Christian  countries,  naturally  forbade  the  performance  of 
any  religious  act  or  the  reading  of  the  Law  with  uncovered 
head  as  being  an  imitation  of  Christian  custom.  Perhaps 
the  writers  did  not  know  how  this  custom  originated  in  hos- 
tility to  the  Synagogue,  but  they  could  not  have  been  more 
severe  if  they  had  known  it.18 


POSTURE,  SOUND,   THOUGHT  303 

Bare  feet  have  always  been  a  mark  of  humility,  proper 
for  those  who  stand  on  sacred  ground,  as  is  known  to  all 
readers  of  the  Bible;  to  this  day  Mohammedans  always 
enter  the  Mosque  without  shoes.  But  such  is  not  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Synagogue.  Shoes  are  removed  on  the  Day  of 
Atonement  and  on  the  Ninth  of  Ab,  only  because  this  is  one 
of  the  inflictions  which  belong  to  the  fast.20  Indeed,  in 
old  times  to  say  prayers  in  bare  feet  was  deemed  suspicious 
as  the  badge  of  a  sect  which  looked  on  the  "flesh"  as  de- 
praved, and  sought  to  mortify  it  on  all  occasions.21 

From  posture  and  array  we  come  to  sound.  The  early 
Sages  assume  that  the  words  of  the  services  are  articulated, 
not  merely  thought  over,  or  read  with  the  eye;22  but  these 
words  need  not  be  uttered  loud  enough  for  even  the  utterer 
himself  to  hear  them.  In  the  Shema,  the  weightiest  part  of 
the  service,  a  sound  loud  enough  for  the  reader's  own  ear 
and  a  clear  separation  of  the  words  are  deemed  meritori- 
ous,23 while  for  the  Prayer  the  conduct  of  Hannah  is 
quoted  as  a  precedent,  "Her  lips  were  moving,  but  her  voice 
could  net  be  heard;24  yet  God  answered  her."  In  the  Syna- 
gogue the  obligation  of  each  person  present  not  to  disturb 
the  others  is  an  additional  reason  for  speaking  the  Prayer 
in  the  lowest  possible  tones;  the  standards  however  make 
some  allowance  for  the  supposed  irrepressible  warmth  of 
feeling  on  the  Days  of  Memorial  and  Atonement.20  The 
responses,  such  as,  Amen,  the  answer  to  "Bless  ye,"  the 
Thrice-Holy,  etc.,  should  of  course  be  giveri  heartily  by  all 
who  attend  public  worship;  "in  assemblies  I  will  give 
thanks  to  the  Lord,"  "the  Majesty  of  the  King  is  in  the 
multitude  of  people,"  are  the  words  of  Scripture.  The 
oldest  line  in  our  service  of  which  the  continuous  use  can 
be  traced,  "Give  thanks  to  the  Lord,  for  he  is  good,"  etc., 
was  always  sung  or  shouted  by  all  the  people.  Each  of  the 
five  paragraphs  of  the  Kaddish^ends/'Say  ye,  Amen,"  show- 
ing that  a  loud  response  was  expected.26  Among  the 
majority  of  the  Jews,  those  of  the  Polish  branch  of  the 


304       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

German  ritual,  responsive  reading-  of  the  Psalms  from  the 
prayer  book  has  fallen  into  disuse  through  a  fear  that  the 
people  might  not  listen  attentively  enough  to  the  odd  num- 
bered verses,  which  fall  to  the  leader;  everyone  reads  each 
Psalm  for  himself,  and  lets  the  leader  chant  the  closing 
verses;  the  Germans  proper  have  kept  up  the  old  and  beau- 
tiful custom. 

This  brings  us  to  musical  treatment.  Leaving  modern 
chorals  out  of  consideration,  there  are  great  local  differ- 
ences. The  old,  always  Oriental  congregations  of  Bagdad 
and  Cairo  are  satisfied  with  the  simple  chant  of  antiquity, 
easily  learned  and  rendered  by  any  man  with  sound  or- 
gans; they  do  not  care  for  a  professional  to  lead  them 
in  prayer.  The  Sefardim  of  Europe  and  America  would 
employ  a  Hazan,  and  ask  from  him  some  proficiency, 
but  as  the  congregation  chimes  in,  and  the  phrasing-  is 
highly  monotonous,  this  proficiency  could  be  readily  ac- 
quired. But  the  Jews  of  the  German  ritual  soon  changed 
the  simple  old  sing-song-  of  Asia  into  something  more 
European  and  more  melodious;  distinct  airs  were  devel- 
oped for  different  parts  of  the  service  on  the  Sabbath 
and  on  all  the  feasts  and  fasts,  which  airs  could  not  be 
rendered  well  except  by  men  with  good  voices  and 
some  musical  training.27  The  Hazan  borrowed  from  his 
Christian  antitype  the  name  of  Cantor,  or  "Vorsanger;" 
the  profession  of  the  leader  in  prayer  became  more  and 
more  musical;  good  Hazanim  would  travel  from  place  to 
place  to  attract  crowds  like  opera  singers  or  violinists.  Old 
established  tunes  were  carefully  handed  down  from  age  to 
age,  and  the  invention  of  a  new  tune  for  some  passage  in 
the  service  (especially  for  the  "Fearful  Days")  became  a 
source  of  pride  and  fame.  The  skill  to  "arouse"28  was 
especially  valued;  a  good  Hazan  must  have  the  capacity 
to  make  his  congregation  weep  in  anguish  or  shed  tears  of 
joy. 

In    the   east    of   Europe,   in    Poknd   and   Hungary,   the 


POSTURE,  SOUND,   THOUGHT  305 

standard  of  good  singing  was  higher,  and  the  desire  to  hear 
the  best  performers  more  widespread  and  intense  than  in 
Germany.  The  ways  of  these  artists  were  in  many  respects 
deplorable.  While  slurring  over  those  parts  of  the  service 
which  both  for  their  contents  and  according  to  the  Rab- 
binic law  should  never  be  spoken  without  devotion,  they 
dwelt  with  unending  trills  and  roulades  on  some  single 
word  or  on  unmeaning  sounds  between  the  words.  The 
peculiar  chorus,  made  up  of  the  so-called  Meshorerim  and 
led  by  a  "singer,"  or  high  tenor,  and  a  base,  did  not  sing 
responsively,  but  only  helped  the  Hazan  in  his  coloratura, 
and  thus  aggravated  the  abuse,  and  the  remonstrances  of 
the  learned,  supported  by  the  Shulhan  Aruch,  could  not 
repress  them  till  the  modern  choir  rescued  the  services  of 
the  German  and  Polish  Jews  from  their  musical  excres- 
cences, perhaps  to  lead  to  some  new  abuses  worse  than  the 
old.29 

Now  as  to  the  frame  of  mind  during  services.  Prayer, 
praise, or  thanks  addressed  to  God  should  of  course  never  be 
put  forth  without  devotion  or  at  least  without  attention  to 
the  words  spoken  and  to  their  meaning.  But  can  the  wor- 
shipper keep  his  mind  fixed  upon  all  parts  of  the  service 
when  it  grows  in  length  to  one  or  two  hours?  If  so,  what  is 
the  minimum  of  attention  demanded  from  him?  The 
Mishna  distinguishes  between  the  reading  of  the  Shema  and 
of  the  Prayer.  One  may  recite  the  former  while  "walking 
by  the  way,"  except  the  first  two  verses,  which  must  be  "on 
thy  heart,"  or  matter  of  devotion;  but  a  man  must  not  even 
enter  upon  Prayer  but  out  of  a  serious  mood.30  An  old 
maxim  is  recorded  that  Prayer  should  not  be  a  fixed  duty, 
but  a  seeking  for  mercy,31  and  the  hours  for  Prayers  are 
more  extended  than  those  for  the  Shema,  to  give  the  wor- 
shipper time  to  reach  the  proper  mood.32  And  if  he  cannot 
keep  his  attention  alive  throughout,  he  must  hold  it  at  least 
while  reciting  the  first  benediction  (Aboth),  in  which  God's 
attributes  of  mercy  and  his  love  for  Abraham  and  his  seed 
are  remembered.33 


306       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Even  the  dry  words  of  the  written  law  require  attention 
to  certain  parts  of  the  service.  "That  thou  mayest  remem- 
ber the  day  of  thy  going  forth  from  Egypt,"  is  not  satisfied 
by  uttering  words  concerning  it  thoughtlessly.  "Remember 
the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy,"  is  not  obeyed  if  in  the 
Kiddush  or  the  night  service  we  say,  "Blessed  be  the  Lord 
who  sanctifies  the  Sabbath,"  without  thinking  of  the  Lord 
or  of  the  Sabbath. 

All  this  was  well  weighed  when  the  Sages  declared  that 
(the  reading  of)  the  Shema,  the  Prayer,  and  Grace  after 
meals  might  be  recited  in  any  language,  for  there  can  be  no 
devotion  or  thought  in  words  which  the  speaker  himself 
does  not  understand.34 

The  worshipper  is  not  in  the  frame  of  mind  for  prayer 
when  he  is  the  worse  for  drink;  in  the  words  of  our  Sages, 
who  probably  were  thinking  of  heathen  orgies,  one  who 
prays  while  drunk  is  no  better  than  an  idolater.35  Nor 
should  one  perform  acts  of  worship  while  he  feels  the  calls 
of  nature,  nor  while  within  the  sight  or  smell  of  anything 
which  is  filthy  or  indecent  to  behold.30 

But  aside  from  attention  to  the  context  there  are  "atten- 
tions" (Cavvanoth)  of  a  subtler  sort.  Thus,  in  the  "Hear, 
( )  Israel,"  the  word  Ehad  (One)  is  drawn  out  long,  to  give 
the  worshipper  time  to  think  of  the  One  as  filling  and  ani- 
mating the  eartli  and  heavens  and  the  four  regions  around 
him.  In  the  next  verse,  "with  all  thy  heart"  means  with  thy 
lower  as  well  as  thy  higher  impulses; "with  all  thy  soul, "even 
if  it  costs  thy  life;  "with  all  thy  might," with  all  thy  wealth  or 
means.  Such  and  a  few  similar  "plain  meanings"  are  found 
in  the  Talmud,  and  though  our  taste  may  reject  them  as  dry 
and  undevotional,  they  can  do  but  little  harm.37  It  is  not 
worth  while  to  speak  here  of  the  still  subtler  "Cavvanoth," 
which  are  found  in  prayer  books  published  by  masters  of 
the  Secret  Lore. 

The  worshipper  is  not  to  interrupt  his  devotions  by  a 
single  word  which  does  not  belong  there;  the  oldest 


POSTURE,  SOUND,   THOUGHT  307 

standard  lays  down  the  rule  thus  as  to  the  Reading  of  the 
Shema:  In  the  middle  (of  a  paragraph  or  benediction) 
one  may  salute  from  fear,  and  return  a  greeting  from  respect 
(to  a  superior) ;  between  the  parts  one  may  salute  first  from 
respect,  and  may  return  any  one's  greeting.38  But  as  to  the 
Prayer  the  rule  was  more  severe;  for  of  the  pious  of  olden 
times  it  is  said:  Even  if  the  King  should  greet  one  (while 
at  Prayer)  he  would  not  answer;  a  rule  so  harsh  that  the 
Talmud  in  its  comments  upon  it  seeks  to  soften  it  in  the 
interest  of  security  of  life  and  limb.39 

The  modern  codes  have  not  lowered  the  rule  against 
interruptions;  certainly  talking  in  the  Synagogue  is  not 
good  orthodoxy.  In  fact,  the  tenor  of  the  services,  not  to  be 
broken  by  an  outside  word,  has  been  much  lengthened 
since  the  hymns  and  Psalms  for  the  morning  were  prefixed 
to  the  Shema  and  cast  into  one  recital  with  it,  while  the 
joining  of  "Redemption"  to  "Prayer"  leaves  no  gap  where 
to  edge  in  a  word  during  the  greater  part  of  the  lengthy 
morning  service.40  And  while  the  lesson  from  the  scroll  or 
from  the  Prophets  is  read  there  is  the  same  requirement  of 
silence  and  attention.41 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TROPE 

THE  Greek  word  rponrj  (trope)  for  melody,  sounded 
"Tropp,"  has  come  in  the  jargon  of  the  German  Jews  to 
denote  the  musical  reading  of  the  Bible  lessons  from  the 
platform,  while  the  Sefardim  know  only  the  Hebrew  word 
Negina  (melody).  The  accents  on  which  this  melody 
depends  were  invented  two  hundred  years  or  more  after 
the  vowel  points,  and  are  carefully  attached  to  the  whole 
text  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  upon  a  uniform  system,  only  the 
three  poetic  books,  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Job,  having  their 
own  system,  with  which  we  are  not  here  concerned.  The 
accents  are  found  in  almost  every  printed  edition  of  the 
Bible  or  of  any  part;  not  however  in  the  parchment  scrolls 
made  for  use  in  the  Synagogue.  Most  of  them  are  put 
under  or  over  the  tone-syllable  of  the  word,  and  thus  aid  in 
the  right  pronunciation.  But  their  main  office  is  performed 
in  other  languages  by  punctuation.  They  are  divided  into 
disjunctives  of  several  degrees  and  conjunctives.  Words 
belonging  very  closely  together  are  connected  by  a  hyphen 
(Makkif};  only  the  last  of  the  words  thus  joined  has  any 
accent;  thus  the  Makkif  binds  more  closely  than  any  con- 
junctive. Of  the  disjunctives  the  strongest  are  the  Sof 
Pasuk,  or  Silluk,  at  the  end  of  the  verse.  The  division  into 
verses  is  well-known  to  the  Alishna;  hence,  is  much  older 
than  the  accents.  Next  in  power  is  the  Ethnah(ta),  put  under 
the  last  word  of  half  the  verse.  Next  in  power  comes  the 
Scgol,  rather  rare,  marking  off  the  first  one-third  of  a  verse; 
the  Zakcf  Katon,  which  crts  the  two  halves  of  a  verse  into 
shorter  clauses;  when  a  single  word  is  such  a  clause,  it  has 

(308) 


THE  TROPE 


3°9 


Zakcf  Gadol;  the  Tifha  is  a  divider  near  the  end  of  the  half 
or  whole  verse. 

The  weaker  dividers  are  Rebia,  Pashta  (which  on  a  single 
word  may  become  Jethib),  Zarka  (only  before  Segol),  and 
Tebir  (only  before  Tifha).  Still  weaker  are  Pazer,  Telisha, 
Geresh  (which  takes  three  shapes  and  names),  and  a  con- 
junctive accent  with  a  vertical  stroke  (Pcsik)  after  the 
word.  The  conjunctives  are  Munah,  Mahpach,  Mcr'cha, 
Telisha  Kctanna,  Kadina  (the  strongest  conjunctive),  and 
Darga.  Including  four  very  rare  marks  there  are  twenty- 
six  in  all.1 

If  the  men  who  invented  and  applied  this  system  were 
right  in  their  understanding  of  the  text,  they  have,  by  pla- 
cing these  accents  as  they  did,  contributed  much  to  teach 
later  generations  a  correct  interpretation  of  the  sacred 
books.  A  good  illustration  of  this  may  be  given  from  the 
opening  verse  of  Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  valley  of  bones 
(Ezek.  37:  i): 

"The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me;  Va-wtsicm  (there 
took  me  out)  with  a  conjunctive  mark,  Bcruah  (in  spirit) 
with  a  weak  disjunctive,  Adonai  (the  Lord);  i.  e.,  the  Lord 
carried  me  out  in  spirit,  not  in  the  flesh.  The  common 
English  Bible  mistranslates,  "and  carried  me  out  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord,"  which  conveys  no  sense. 

The  names  of  the  accents  have  been  strung  together  with 
some  repetitions  in  something  like  the  order  in  which  they 
might  occur  in  a  long  verse,  except  that  Jethib  Pcsik  are 
put  near  the  end  to  denote  the  cadence  at  the  end  of  a  lesson 
or  subsection.2 

Each  accent  indicates  a  musical  phrase,  and  when 
grouped  they  make  up  something  like  a  tune.  And  when  a 
verse  is  read  by  such  tune,  the  grouping  of  the  words  ac- 
cording to  the  sense  strikes  the  ear  naturally. 

They  are,  however,  read  musically  in  different  ways.  The 
first  distinction  is  between  that  of  the  Sefardim  and  that  of 
Germans  and  Poles.  The  former  is  very  much  like  the  old 


310       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Oriental  chant;  it  moves  mostly  within  five  tones,  often  by 
chromatic  intervals,  while  the  latter  moves  over  a  wider 
compass,  is  livelier,  and  more  akin  to  European  music. 

Again,  each  branch  of  the  Synagogue  has  its  "trope" 
for  the  Pentateuch,  which  is  simple  and  does  not  express 
much,  if  any,  feeling;  and  a  modification  thereof  for  the 
Haftara,  or  Prophet  lesson,  which  is  richer  and  somewhat 
pathetic.  The  German  Jews  modify  the  prophetic  trope 
still  further  into  a  very  sad  air  for  the  Book  of  Lamenta- 
tions and  for  the  Haftara  of  the  Sabbath  preceding  the  Fast 
of  the  Ninth  of  Ab.  There  is  another  variation  for  the  Book 
of  Esther,  brisk  and  defiant;  and  yet  another  among  the 
Germans  for  the  Pentateuch  lessons  on  the  morning  of  the 
Solemn  Days.  Some  passages  of  the  Pentateuch  are  read 
to  marching  music:  part  of  the  Red  Sea  Song, the  tribes  and 
their  princes  with  their  marching  order  in  Numbers  10, 
and  the  journeys  and  stations  in  Numbers  33. 

The  music  for  the  accents  in  the  conventional  order  is 
given  in  a  note  as  chanted  in  the  German  ritual  to  the 
Pentateuch  lesson  and  to  the  Haftara;  in  the  Sefardic  ritual 
as  applied  to  the  Haftara;  also  the  first  verse  of  Lamenta- 
tions in  the  Sefardic  chant.3 

The  benediction  before  the  Haftara  is  read  so  as  to  fit  in 
with  its  "trope;"  many  service  books  fit  accents  to  it  as 
if  it  were  a  Bible  verse.  On  the  Solemn  Days  the  benedic- 
tions before  and  after  the  reading  from  the  Pentateuch  are 
chanted  so  as  to  fall  in  with  the  tune  of  the  lesson. 

The  "trope"  is  generally  learned  by  Jewish  boys  when 
they  are  nearing  their  thirteenth  birthday,  and  are  to  cele- 
brate their  Bar  Mitzva  (see  Bk.  Ill,  ch.  Ill)  by  reading 
the  Sidra  and  Haftara  for  the  first  and  alas!  often  for  the 
last  time. 

The  accents  are  not  noticed  in  reading  any  part  of  the 
Bible  except  the  Pentateuch,  the  lessons  from  the  Prophetic 
books,  and  the  Books  of  Esther  and  Lamentations. 

The  time  and  place  of  the  invention  of  the  accents  are 


THE  TROPE  311 

shrouded  in  obscurity,  as  much  so  as  the  time  when  the 
vowel  signs  were  contrived.  But  while  the  vowels  are  a 
product  of  Galilee,  the  accents  seem  to  have  originated 
among  Jews  who  read  Hebrew  in  the  Sefardic  style,  if  we 
may  judge  by  the  secondary  word-accent  known  as  Metheg, 
which  is  part  of  the  system,  and  which  helps  to  distinguish 
the  long  from  the  short  Kametz  and  thus  to  read  correctly 
from  the  Sefardic  standpoint.4 

But  while  the  details  are  comparatively  late,  the  general 
habit  of  chanting  the  Bible  rather  than  reading  it  in  decla- 
matory style  is  probably  as  old  as  the  use  of  Scripture  in 
public  service.  An  early  Talmudist  said,  "Whoever  reads 
(Bible)  without  pleasantness  and  teaches  oral  law  without 
song,  of  him  Scripture  says  (Ezek.  20:  25):  I  also  gave 
them  statutes  that  were  not  good."5 

In  fact,  there  is  a  particular  sing-song  in  which  Mishna 
and  Gemara  are  studied,  wholly  different  from  the  trope  in 
any  of  its  forms,  but  quite  as  characteristic. 


CHAPTER  III 

FRINGES  AND  PHYLACTERIES 

THE  fringed  shawl  and  the  phylacteries  are  a  sort  of  uni- 
form which  the  good  Israelite  dons  in  the  service  of  God. 
According  to  the  tradition  the  wearing  of  the  fringes  (Tsi- 
tzitli)  as  well  as  of  the  phylacteries  is  required  only  in  day- 
time, and  as  women  are  not  bound  by  positive  commands 
which  apply  only  to.  some  given  time,  they  do  not  wear 
either  the  fringes  or  the  phylacteries.1 

Towards  the  end  of  the  isth  chapter  of  Numbers  the 
children  of  Israel  are  told  that  they  make  a  fringe  upon  the 
corner  of  their  garments  in  their  generations,  and  that  they 
put  upon  the  fringe  of  the  corner  a  thread  of  blue.  The 
Hebrew  word,  which  is  here  rendered  blue,  does  not  mean 
that  color  in  general,  but  a  blue  dye  stuff,  which  the  Tyrians 
used  to  obtain  from  a  shell.  This  shell  is  no  longer  found, 
perhaps  only  because  it  is  no  longer  sought,  and  the  latter 
part  of  the  command  is  in  our  days  wholly  neglected.2  In 
Deuteronomy  22:  12  the  people  are  told:  "Thou  shalt  make 
to  thce  cords  on  the  four  corners  of  thy  garment."  The  two 
passages  being  construed  together,  it  was  inferred  (i)  that 
no  garment  is  bound  to  have  either  cords  or  fringes  unless 
it  has  four  corners,  neither  more  nor  less;  (2)  that  every 
such  garment  should  have  both  cords  and  fringes  at  each 
corner,  i.  e.,  the  four  woolen  threads  which  are  run  through 
a  hemmed  hole  near  the  corner  are  first  wound  and  knotted 
into  a  cord,  and  the  eight  ends  are  then  allowed  to  hang 
down  loose  as  a  fringe.  The  avowed  object  of  the  observ- 
ance is,  that  upon  looking  at  the  fringe  with  its  blue  thread 
we  should  be  reminded  of  God's  commands,  and  not  spy 

(312) 


FRINGES  AND  PHYLACTERIES  313 

after  our  eyes  and  oar  hearts,  and  be  holy  to  our  God,  as 
is  recited  twice  a  day  in  the  third  paragraph  of  the  Shema.3 

A  shawl  with  the  fringes  is  known  as  Talith  (a  word 
probably  derived  from  the  Greek  stole);  it  is  worn  in  the 
morning  service  by  every  man  present,  among  the  Sefardim 
also  by  small  boys;  and  though  some  worshippers  may  not 
be  provided  with  it,  those  having  any  functions,  as  the 
leader  in  prayer,  he  who  reads  the  lesson,  the  preacher,  the 
officers  who  stand  by  the  desk,  etc.,  always  wear  it.  Before 
putting  on  this  shawl,  the  benediction  is  spoken,  "Blessed, 
etc.,  who  hast  sanctified  us,  etc.,  and  commanded  us  to 
wrap  ourselves  in  the  fringes."4 

It  seems  that,  with  the  disappearance  of  the  proper  dye 
stuff  of  which  to  make  the  thread  of  blue,  the  wearing  of 
fringes  for  a  while  fell  into  partial  disuse  before  the  Rab- 
binic Jews  adapted  themselves  to  the  new  condition  of 
wearing  the  fringed  shawl  without  blue  threads,  as  they 
were  justified  in  doing  under  the  teaching  of  the  Mishna; 
but  ever  since  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century  such  a  shawl 
has  been  generally  worn.  The  Karaites  have  solved  the 
problem  otherwise,  by  placing  among  the  white  woolen 
threads  a  thread  dyed  in  some  common  vegetable  blue.5 

It  appears  from  the  Mishna  that  while  the  distinction  be- 
tween "Companions"  and  the  "People  of  the  Land"  re- 
mained, the  latter  were  not  in  the  habit,  or  at  least  not  in 
the  constant  habit,  of  wearing  fringes  on  their  garments. 
But  it  does  not  appear  that  any  sect  or  school  denied  the 
obligation  to  wear  them.  The  failure  to  do  so  was  simply 
the  result  of  indifference.6 

The  word  phylacteries,  found  in  the  New  Testament,  is 
only  a  Greek  corruption  of  the  Hebrew  Tefillin.  The  Greek 
word  means  "things  that  guard,"  as  much  as  talismans  or 
amulets,  which  the  phylacteries  are  not  and  never  were. 
The  Hebrew  word  is  derived  from  Tefilla,  i.  e.,  prayer,  be- 
cause they  were  worn  mainly  during  the  morning  devo- 
tions. The  wearing  of  the  Tefillin  is  commanded  by  four 


314       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

passages  in  the  Pentateuch,  Exodus  13:  i-io,  ib. 
11-16;  Deut.  6:  4-9;  n:  13-21,  all  of  which  con- 
tain the  words,  "thou  shalt  bind  them  for  a  sign 
on  your  hand,  and  they  shall  be  as  frontlets  between 
your  eyes."  The  word  for  "frontlets"  is  Totafoth  in 
Hebrew,  which  is  also  applied  (in  later  writings)  to  bands 
worn  by  women  round  the  forehead  by  way  of  ornament. 
Any  derivation  from  African  or  other  outlandish  tongues  is 
fanciful  and  unscientific.7  The  four  passages,  including  in 
each  the  above  command,  are  written  on  strips  of  parch- 
ment, or  continuously  on  one  strip;  one  copy  is  enclosed 
in  a  leather  box,  which  is  put  on  the  left  arm  above  the 
elbow,  the  other  in  a  similar  box,  to  be  placed  high  up  in 
the  middle  of  the  forehead.  For  this  purpose  a  loop  is 
attached  to  each  box,  through  which  long  leather  straps  are 
drawn.  The  strap  for  the  arm  is  wound  seven  times  round 
the  arm  below  the  elbow  and  then  round  the  hand  and 
fingers;  that  for  the  head  is  tied  into  a  peculiar  knot  at  such 
a  distance  as  to  fit  the  head,  and  its  two  ends  hang  down 
behind.  There  is  some  dispute  as  to  the  order  in  which 
the  four  pieces  for  the  phylactery  of  the  head  should  be 
arranged;  in  the  phylactery  for  the  arm  the  four  passages 
are  written  upon  one  strip  in  the  same  order  in  which  they 
follow  each  other  in  Scripture.8 

Phylacteries  are  not  worn  on  the  Sabbath  or  the  Festi- 
vals, because  these  are  "signs"  between  God  and  Israel,  and 
no  further  sign  is  needed;  the  Sefardim  and  the  sect  of 
Hasidim  extend  the  same  reasoning  to  the  middle  days  of 
the  Passover  and  Feast  of  Huts,  as  the  Unleavened  Cake 
and  the  Hut  arc  sufficient  signs.9 

In  "laying  Tefillin,"  that  for  the  arm  is  put  on  first,  after 
a  blessing,  "who  hast  commanded  us  to  lay  Tefillin;"  then 
those  for  the  head,  with  the  blessing,  "who  hast  commanded 
us  about  the  duty  of  Tefillin."  Then  the  strap  of  the  phy- 
lactery for  the  arm  is  put  about  the  fingers  in  a  conven- 
tional way,  while  the  verses  from  Hosea  are  recited,  "I  shall 


FRINGES  AND  PHYLACTERIES 


315 


betroth  thee  unto  me  forever:  I  shall  betroth  thee  unto 
me  in  righteousness  and  justice,  in  kindness  and  in  mercy: 
I  shall  betroth  thee  unto  me  in  faithfulness;  and  thou  shalt 
know  the  Lord."10 

It  is  maintained  by  the  Karaites  and  by  many  modern 
Bible  students  that  the  commands  to  put  or  to  bind  certain 
words  upon  hand  or  forehead  were  meant  in  a  figurative 
sense,  and  mean  simply  that  these  words  should  govern  our 
actions  and  our  thoughts.  This  is  however  on  two  grounds 
very  improbable.  Many  of  the  nations  which  surrounded 
Israel  wore  talismans  inscribe-d  with  what  were  supposed 
to  be  powerful  charms,  and  these  were  well-known  to  the 
Israelites.  Hence  they  would  naturally  understand  a  com- 
mand to  have  certain  words  upon  the  hand  or  between  the 
eyes  literally,  and  whoever  wrote  the  passages  in  Exodus 
or  Deuteronomy  must  have  known  that  they  would  be  thus 
understood.  In  the  next  place,  in  the  two  latter  passages 
it  is  also  commanded  to  write  the  same  words  upon  the 
door-posts,  and  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  figurative  sense 
to  this  precept. 

The  author  does  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Biblical  pass- 
ages in  their  natural  sense  mean  that  the  whole  of  each 
paragraph,  including  the  very  command  to  make  it  a  sign 
or  to  bind  it.  should  be  written  out  in  full.  It  is  admitted 
that  the  duty  "to  speak  of  them,"  enjoined  in  the  second 
paragraph  of  the  Shema,  may  be  fulfilled  by  reading  the 
Ten  Commandments,  because  they  also  teach  the  doctrine 
of  rewards  and  punishments;  and  similar  substitutes  might 
be  found  for  the  duty  of  phylacteries  as  for  the  daily  recital. 
Nor  does  the  Tora  demand  the  wearing  of  these  signs  and 
frontlets  with  any  regularity  at  stated  times.  But  those  who 
would  otherwise  have  carried  about  them  talismans  in- 
scribed with  incantations  expressive  of  trust  in  subordinate 
beings  or  invocations  of  heathen  deities  (as  most  men  prob- 
ably did),  were  here  directed:  Turn  your  thoughts  wholly 
to  the  God  of  Israel,  and  let  every  scrap  of  writing  that 


3i6       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

you  carry  about  you  be  witness  to  your  undivided  faith. 
And  in  this  sense  the  fourfold  command  may  have  been 
fulfilled  long  before  the  modern  phylactery  (say  in  the 
Maccabean  age)  was  developed.11 

The  religious  leaders  in  Israel,  being  once  convinced  that 
the  two  passages  in  Exodus  and  the  two  in  Deuteronomy 
ought  to  be  observed,  and  finding  men  here  and  there  who 
observed  them,  naturally  sought  to  so  interpret  the  words 
of  the  Law  as  to  establish  a  uniform  custom.  They  had  to 
determine  therefore  how  much  is  to  be  written  of  each  pass- 
age, whether  only  in  the  Hebrew  text,  or  whether  it  might 
be  written  also  in  Greek  or  in  some  other  tongue;  in  what 
characters,  on  what  material;  whether  the  phylacteries 
should  be  placed  on  the  hand  or  on  the  arm,  between  the 
eyes  or  higher  on  the  forehead,  and  many  other  like  par- 
ticulars.12 The  Mishna  denounces  those  who  have  round 
instead  of  cubic  phylacteries,  those  who  gild  them,  who 
bind  them  on  the  sleeve  instead  of  the  bare  arm,  etc.,  as 
sectaries  hostile  to  the  traditions.  A  well  authenticated 
Barai'tha  speaks  of  those  who  do  not  wear  phylacteries 
while  reading  the  morning  service  as  bearing  witness 
against  themselves  when  reciting  the  very  command  which 
they  break.  This  indicates  that  in  olden  times  already  the 
Tefillin  were  worn  mainly  at  prayer.13 

However,  as  long  as  the  schism  between  the  "com- 
panions" and  "the  people  of  the  land"  prevailed,  the  latter 
cared  very  little  for  the  institution,  and  the  former  often 
wore  phylacteries  all  day.14 

The  Talmud  claims  immemorial  custom  (Halacha  of 
Moses  from  Sinai)  for  almost  every  feature  of  the  Tefillin, 
but  admits  that  the  black  straps  had,  within  times  of 
memory,  not  been  universal,  as  a  noted  Sage  of  the  Mishna 
tied  his  own  Tefillin  with  purple  ribbons.15 

No  contemporary  writer  earlier  than  those  who  furnished 
the  facts  for  the  (Gospel  history  speaks  of  the  wearing  of 
phylacteries  at  all.  But  after  the  Talmud  had  once  regu- 


FRINGES  AND  PHYLACTERIES  317 

lated  the  mode  of  making  them,  and  enjoined  the  duty  to 
wear  them,  the  custom  seems  to  have  taken  firm  ground 
among  all  otherwise  law-observing  Jews,  and  there  is  no 
proof  that  it  ever  fell  into  disuse  for  any  length  of  time  in 
any  great  part  of  the  dispersion  except  among  the  Karaites, 
who  reject  the  literal  meaning  of  the  four  Biblical  pass- 
ages.10 If  it  ever  fell  into  disuse  elsewhere,  it  was  at  any 
rate  fully  re-established  by  Rashi,  according  to  whose  views 
the  writing  in  the  phylacteries  for  the  head  has  been  ar- 
ranged since  his  days.  The  diverging  opinion  of  his  grand- 
son Jacob,  known  as  Rabbenu  Tarn,  has  not  prevailed  any 
further  than  that  some  over-scrupulous  men  "lay"  Tefillin 
of  both  kinds  every  day,  to  be  sure  of  having  done  their 
whole  duty.17 

To  the  Talmudists  the  fringed  shawl  and  phylacteries, 
enforced  by  the  writing  on  the  door-post,  appeared  like  a 
heavenly  uniform;  how  can  a  man  thus  surrounded  by  all 
that  reminds  him  of  God  come  to  sin?  Alas,  he  often 
does.18 


CHAPTER  IV 

CEREMONIES  ON  YEARLY  OCCASIONS 

AMONG  the  yearly  or  great  occasions  the  priestly  bless- 
ing, given  in  form,  must  now  be  reckoned,  for  it  is  in  our 
days  imparted  only  on  the  seven  Biblical  festivals  doubled 
into  thirteen;  and  in  many  Synagogues  not  on  one  of 
these  days  when  it  happens  on  a  Saturday,  lest  more  honor 
be  shown  to  a  festival  than  to  the  Sabbath. 

A  Cohen  who  has  ever  killed  a  human  being,  or  has  ever 
worshipped  idols,  or  who  has  on  that  morning  drunk  wine 
or  strong  drink  in  sufficient  quantity  to  affect  him,  must 
not  stand  among  those  who  bless;  nor  a  cripple  or  hunch- 
back, nor  one  whose  hands  are  swollen  or  crippled  or  dyed 
a  sharp  blue,  lest  the  attention  of  those  present  be  dis- 
tracted. Otherwise  every  Cohen  over  thirteen  years  of  age 
is  competent.  Those  who  are  incompetent  for  the  above 
reasons,  or  who  deem  themselves  unworthy,  should  leave  the 
Synagogue  before  the  leader  gives  the  signal  in  the  bene- 
diction Aboda  (see  Bk.  II,  ch.  VII);  for  otherwise  they 
would  violate  the  positive  command  of  the  Law  (Num. 
6:  23),  "Thus  ye  shall  bless  the  children  of  Israel."1 

The  "priests"  take  off  their  shoes.  A  basin  and  pitcher 
are  provided,  and  the  Levites,  or  if  there  are  none,  the  first- 
born who  are  present  in  the  Synagogue,  step  with  the 
"priests"  into  an  anteroom  or  court,  and  pour  water  over 
their  hands.  The  latter  step  upon  the  platform  before  the 
Ark,  say  the  benediction  prescribed  for  them  (Bk.  II,  ch. 
VII)  with  their  faces  towards  it,  and  then,  with  their  fringed 
shawls  over  their  heads,  turn  to  the  congregation  with  their 
hands  held  before  their  faces  in  a  traditional  manner;  that 

(318) 


CEREMONIES  ON  YEARLY  OCCASIONS 


319 


is,  the  two  thumbs  brought  tip  to  tip,  the  second  and  third 
fingers  of  each  hand  held  straight  up  and  together,  and  the 
fourth  and  fifth  fingers  separate  from  these  and  likewise 
joined.  Each  word  is  sung  out  for  them  by  the  leader  from 
a  book  before  him;  they  sing  it  after  him  in  his  tune,  which 
differs  according  to  the  festival;  the  last  word  in  each  of  the 
three  blessings  is  dwelled  on  pretty  long  to  give  time  to 
repeat  a  prayer  recommended  in  the  Talmud  to  those  who 
are  troubled  by  a  dream.2 

The  leaders,  in  the  "Additional"  on  the  first  day  of  the 
Passover  who  pray  for  fertilizing  dew,  and  on  the  Eighth 
of  the  Feast  who  pray  for  rain,  are  supposed  to  plead 
before  God  as  on  the  Day  of  Judgment;  hence  they  put  on 
the  white  shroud  with  linen  cap  to  match  as  on  the  Solemn 
Days,  the  days  of  judgment,  and  they  chant  the  Half  Kad- 
dish  with  which  the  Additional  service  begins  in  a  tune  bor- 
rowed from  the  Solemn  Days.3 

On  the  Day  of  Memorial  we  have  the  most  striking  of 
all  the  ceremonies,  the  blowing  of  the  Cornet.  The  Cornet, 
or  Shofar,  is  a  ram's  horn  without  metal  mouthpiece;  it 
must  be  sharply  bent  at  the  broad  side  near  the  base  of  the 
horn  so  as  to  double  the  column  of  air.  Putting  this  horn 
obliquely  to  the  lips  and  blowing  with  sufficient  force  brings 
out  a  clear,  deep  note,  something  near  the  A  on  the  top  line 
of  the  score  in  the  base  clef;  blowing  with  greater  effort 
gives  the  fifth  above.  Only  these  two  notes  are  used. 

In  speaking  of  the  silver  trumpets  Scripture  distin- 
guishes "blowing,"  or  rather  "sounding,"  simply  and  pro- 
ducing alarm  sounds.  By  tradition  the  former,  or  Tcki'a, 
means  two  long  notes,  the  lower  first,  then  its  fifth,  each 
sustained  for  at  least  two  seconds.  The  "alarm  sound" 
requires  notes  of  only  one-third  of  this  length;  each  of  these 
is  supposed  to  be  equal  to  three  of  the  shortest  notes  that 
can  be  blown.  Each  alarm  sound  has  been  always  intro- 
duced and  followed  by  a  Teki'a.  It  was  thought  that  there 
should  be  three  alarm  sounds;  this  would  make  nine  sound- 


320       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ings  altogether,  and  Mishna  and  Talmud  speak  throughout 
of  the  duty  to  hear  nine  soundings  from  the  cornet  in  the 
indicated  order. 

Afterwards  doubts  arose  whether  slow  "breaks"  (She- 
barim), like  A  e  A  e  A  e,  each  note  about  two-thirds  of  a 
second,  or  a  greater  number  of  much  shorter  notes  (A  A 
A  A  A  A  A  A  e),  the  latter  being  called  Teru'a  in  the  nar- 
rower sense,  were  the  truest  alarm  sounds;  and  to  solve  all 
doubts  the  following  scheme  was  adopted,  in  which  the 
combination  of  both  alarms  is  put  first: 

Teki'a  Shebarim-Teru'a  Teki'a 

Teki'a  Shebarim  Teki'a 

Teki'a  Teru'a  Teki'a 

These  were  still  considered  to  be  only  nine  soundings. 

The  Mishna  and  Babylonian  Talmud,  in  speaking  of  the 
Shofar-blowing  on  the  Day  of  Memorial,  always  connect  it 
with  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  benedictions  in  the  "Addi- 
tional" (Bk.  II,  ch.  XI);  the  "second  (i.  e.,  the  leader  in  the 
Additional)  causes  the  blowing;"  and  the  more  learned, 
knowing  this,  consider  the  "standing  cornet  sounds,"  that 
is,  those  emitted  during  the  Prayer,  as  the  most  solemn  and 
important.  In  the  Sefardic  and  West  German  Minhag 
they  are  rendered  as  in  the  above  scheme,  with  Shebarim- 
Teru'a  after  the  "Kingdoms,"  Shebarim  after  the  "Remem- 
brances," and  Teru'a  after  the  "Shofars;"  while  in  Eastern 
(lermanyand  Austria-Hungary  Shebarim-Teru'a  is  sounded 
after  each  benediction.4 

But  from  a  passage  of  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  now  lost, 
though  attested  by  several  medieval  writers,  it  appears 
that  the  whole  scheme,  was  at  an  early  day  felt  to  lack  one 
element:  there  was  no  opportunity  to  render  thanks  in  the 
common  form  for  the  performance  of  duty,  nor  for  the  good 
luck  of  having  lived  to  reach  the  occasion;  for  the  Prayer 
could  not  be  interrupted  for  such  a  purpose;  hence  the  "sit- 
ting cornet  sounds,"  that  is,  blowing  outside  of  and  before 


CEREMONIES  ON  YEARLY  OCCASIONS 


321 


the  additional  Prayer,  were  introduced.  The  man  chosen 
to  blow  the  cornet,  after  the  Prophet  lesson  and  after  a 
Psalm  (such  as  47)  or  appropriate  verses  have  been  read, 
chants  slowly: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  hast  commanded  us  to 
hear  the  sound  of  the  cornet.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God, 
King  of  the  world,  who  hast  let  us  live,  and  kept  us  up,  and  hast 
made  us  reach  this  season. 

And  he  then  blows  each  of  the  three  lines  above  given 
three  times,  upon  words  of  command  given  by  some  promi- 
nent member. 

The  form  of  the  benediction  was  still  in  doubt  in  the 
twelfth  century — should  it  be  "to  hear"  or  "to  sound?"  It 
was  settled  as  above  by  R.  Jacob  Tarn;  his  decision  is 
approved  by  Maimonides,  who  speaks  of  these  "sitting 
sounds"  as  a  fully  established  custom.5 

The  last  command  given  is  "Great  Sounding"  (Tekia 
gcdola),  and  in  response  the  performer  brings  out  louder 
and  longer  notes;  he  then  says  the  verse: 

(Ps.  89:  16)  "Happy  the  people  who  know  the  alarm 
sound,  O  Lord,  they  walk  in  the  light  of  thy  countenance." 
The  people  repeat  this  after  him,  and  the  ordinary  service 
proceeds.  Thus  the  Synagogue  fulfills  the  command  to 
make  the  first  of  the  seventh  month  a  day  of  alarm  sound. 
In  the  Temple  the  two  silver  trumpets  were  sounded  along 
with  the  ram's  horn;  hence  (or  by  reason  of)  the  verse, 
"With  trumpets  and  the  sound  of  the  cornet  make  a  joyful 
noise  to  the  King,  the  Lord." 

The  performer  on  the  Shofar  must,  to  satisfy  the  feeling 
of  the  community,  be  a  man  of  piety  and  good  conduct;  a 
very  correct  principle,  which,  however,  has  its  drawbacks; 
first,  because  it  leads  to  much  ill-natured  criticism  of  those 
chosen  to  blow  the  cornet;  second,  because  it  throws  the 
task  often  on  men  ill-qualified  to  perform  it,  who,  by  their 
unsuccessful  efforts  to  get  the  right  notes  or  any  notes  out 


322       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

of  the  Shofar,  bring  into  ridicule  a  ceremony  which  is 
intended  to  be  solemn  and  awe-inspiring. 

The  Day  of  Atonement  is  brought  to  an  end  in  the  Ger- 
man ritual  with  a  single  Teki'a,  among  the  Sefardim  with 
the  four  soundings  of  the  first  line.  This  is  nowhere  pre- 
scribed as  a  duty,  but  is  simply  a  reminiscence  of  the  cornet 
sounds  which  in  the  year  of  Jubilee  proclaimed  liberty  to 
the  land.0 

The  feature  of  the  services  on  the  Feast  of  Huts  is  based 
on  a  verse  in  Leviticus  23,  which,  rendered  according  to 
its  traditional  meaning,  reads  thus: 

"Ye  shall  take  unto  yourselves  upon  the  first  day  the  fruit 
of  the  citron  tree  and  branches  of  palms,  and  the  twig  of  a 
myrtle  tree  and  willows  of  the  brook,  and  ye  shall  be  glad 
before  the  Lord  your  God." 

The  tradition  also  teaches  that  there  is  one  citron 
(Ethrog),  and  one  palm  leaf  in  its  natural  folded  state 
(Lulab},  three  twigs  of  myrtle  of  the  species  which  has  the 
leaves  in  whorls  of  three,  and  two  willow  branches.  The 
citron  is  held  separately  in  the  left  hand,  the  branches  are 
tied  together  with  strips  of  palm  leaf.  Scripture  speaks 
only  of  the  first  day,  but  there  is  a  custom  which  has  come 
down  from  the  days  of  the  Temple  of  shaking  the  Lulab 
(the  word  is  applied  for  short  to  the  four  elements)  on  the 
seven  days  of  the  Feast  of  Huts. 

But  the  Shofar  is  not  blown  and  the  Lulab  is  not  handled 
on  the  Sabbath,  for  reasons  which  it  would  lead  us  too  far 
to  explain.  When  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year  and  of  the 
Feast  of  Huts  is  on  Saturday,  both  of  these  ceremonies  are 
adjourned  to  Sunday. 

The  festive  bunch  is  to  be  coupled  with  gladness  before 
God,  hence  with  reading  of  the  Hallel  Psalms  (Bk.  II,  ch. 
XIII).  The  "first,"  i.  e.,  the  leader  in  the  morning  Prayer 
and  whoever  beside  him  is  in  possession  of  a  Lulab  and 
Ethrog  say,  before  beginning  Hallel,  the  following  benedic- 
tions: 


CEREMONIES  ON  YEARLY  OCCASIONS 


323 


Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  hast  commanded  us  about 
the  handling  of  the  Lulab.  (Adding  on  the  first  day)  Blessed  be 
thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast  let  us  live, 
and  kept  us  up,  and  made  us  reach  this  season. 

To  fulfill  the  command  every  one  who  has  a  Lulab  and 
Ethrog  then  moves  them  up  and  down  to  the  right  and  left 
and  to  the  fore  and  aft,  in  acknowledgment  of  God's  omni- 
presence. Hallel  then  proceeds;  the  same  motions  are  made 
again  at  the  first  four  verses  of  Psalm  118  ("for  his  mercy 
endureth  forever")  at  the  line,  "We  beseech  thee,  O  Lord, 
save  now,"  and  again  at  the  last  verse,  "Give  thanks  unto 
the  Lord,  etc.,  for  his  mercy." 

The  command  as  to  the  four  species  has  been  carried  out 
in  substantially  the  same  manner  as  it  is  now  as  far  as  any 
tradition  or  testimony  reaches  back;  the  Karaites,  however, 
point  to  Nehemiah  8:  15  as  showing  that  the  four  species 
should  be  employed  in  building  the  Hut,  and  not  handled 
separately,  as  they  are  by  the  Rabbinical  Jews. 

Those  who  have  no  "four  kinds"  of  their  own,  borrow 
them  from  others  or  from  the  congregation;  but  on  the  first 
day  every  man  ought  to  have  a  proprietary  interest  in  those 
which  he  handles.7 

The  Hosanna  hymns  on  the  Feast  of  Huts  have  been 
mentioned  among  the  later  poetry  (Bk.  II,  chs.  XVII  and 
XVIII).  Right  after  the  repetition  of  the  Additional  the 
leader  takes  a  scroll  from  the  Ark  with  the  invocation 
Hosha'na;  those  who  have  a  Lulab  range  themselves  behind 
him  in  procession,  and  they  walk  slowly  round  the  plat- 
form, singing  the  Hosanna  hymn  for  the  day.  On  a  Sat- 
urday he  makes  the  circuit  alone,  or  stands  still.  On  the 
seventh  of  the  Feast  (the  Great  Hosanna,  or  Hosha'na  Rabba) 
all  the  scrolls  are  taken  out,  and  seven  circuits  are  made 
through  the  whole  Synagogue,  a  separate  hymn  being  sung 
each  time,  and  different  men  carrying  the  scrolls  on  each 
circuit.  The  Cabbalists  have,  in  modern  times,  taken  hold 


324       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

of  the  seven  circuits  by  choosing  a  verse  with  the  appro- 
priate Sephira  to  recite  after  each  of  six,  while  the  verse, 
"Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness,"  from  i  Chron.  29,  is 
recited  after  the  seventh  circuit  as  embodying  all  of  the 
seven  lower  Sephiroth.  The  older  standards,  such  as  the 
Mahzor  Vitry,  know  nothing  of  all  this. 

After  these  circuits  a  new  implement,  peculiar  to  this  day, 
comes  into  play,  the  willow  bunch,  made  up  of  five  small 
willow  twigs,  familiarly  known  as  the  Hosha'na.  Like 
everything  else  that  distinguishes  the  seventh  day  from 
the  other  middle  days  of  the  Feast  of  Huts,  this  bunch, 
made  of  five  small  twigs,  tied  together  with  strips  of  willow 
bark  or  palm  leaf,  cannot  be  traced  to  any  Biblical  source. 
The  celebration  is  drawn  from  the  great  national  holiday 
of  the  second  Temple,  the  "Joy  of  the  Water  Fetching," 
which  the  Mishna  describes  as  Laving  exceeded  all  other 
entertainments  of  the  world  in  its  intensity  of  delight.  In 
this  celebration  those  who  made  circuits  around  the  altar 
carried  willow  bunches.  As  little  as  is  left  of  all  this,  we 
cannot  forget  that  the  authors  of  the  Calendar  laid  so  much 
store  by  this  holiday  that  they  would  push  all  the  feasts 
forward  by  one  day  rather  than  let  it  fall  on  a  Sabbath,  and 
thus  interfere  with  the  exercises. 

The  willow  bunches  are  tied  up  the  night  before;  in  the 
morning  they  are  taken  to  the  Synagogue.  After  the  seven 
circuits  with  the  scrolls  and  palm  leaves  round  the  platform, 
a  few  more  poetical  prayers  are  recited,  among  them 
one  full  of  Messianic  hopes:  "A  voice  brings  news,  brings 
news  and  says"  (see  Bk.  II,  ch.  XVII).  At  last,  with  a 
petition  for  forgiveness  of  sins,  each  worshipper  strikes  his 
bunch  a  few  times  on  the  desk  before  him  and  throws  it 
away;  a  poor  remnant,  indeed,  of  the  merry  processions  of 
the  "Water  Fetching  House."  The  Cabbalists  have  given 
this  day  a  new  meaning:  the  judgments  enrolled  on  New 
Year  and  sealed  on  Atonement  Day  are  sent  out  by  divine 
messengers  into  the  world.  This  is  certainly  a  very  dif- 


CEREMONIES  ON  YEARLY  OCCASIONS  325 

ferent  character  from  that  which  the  Willow  Day  bore  in 
old  Jerusalem.8 

On  the  last  day  of  the  Feast,  the  "Joy  of  the  Law"  is 
often  celebrated  in  a  rather  boisterous  manner.  In  the 
countries  of  the  Polish  Minhag  the  scrolls  are  taken  out 
near  the  end  of  the  evening  service,  which  is  contrary  to 
all  rules  observed  at  other  times.  They  are  carried  about 
in  procession,  all  the  little  boys  following  with  paper  flags 
representing  the  twelve  tribes,  singing  as  prescribed  for 
the  next  morning,  while  the  ladies  in  the  gallery  throw 
nuts  and  candies  among  them.  As  a  further  deviation  from 
sober  rules,  a  scroll  is  sometimes  opened,  and  any  passage 
at  random  that  is  flattering  to  children  (e.  g.,  the  blessing  of 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh)  is  read,  "all  the  boys"  in  unison 
saying  the  benediction. 

In  the  morning  it  is  regular  to  take  out  the  scrolls  of  the 
Law,  leaving  a  candle  in  their  place  in  the  Ark.  A  proces- 
sion is  formed  by  the  leader,  the  men  carrying  scrolls, 
while  all  sing: 

We  beseech  thee  (Anna),  O  Lord,  save  now! 

We  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  give  success  now! 

We  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  answer  us  when  we  call! 

This  is  varied  by  an  alphabet  of  names  for  God,  put  in 
the  place  of,  "We  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,"  with  the  same 
three  petitions.  When  the  procession  has  walked  round 
the  platform,  other  men  are  called  with  profuse  compli- 
ments to  carry  a  scroll  during  the  next  circuit  (Hakkafa), 
and  the  merry  song  goes  on.  When  the  song  is  ended,  all 
but  three  of  the  scrolls  are  replaced,  and  the  regular  read- 
ing begins.  A  Cohen  is  first  called  "with  all  the  priests;" 
they  all  come  to  the  platform  and  say  the  benedictions 
together;  then  a  Levite  is  called  "with  all  the  Levites." 
Then  others  are  called,  have  short  passages  read  to  them 
in  chapter  33  of  Deuteronomy;  these  same  passages  being 
read  over  and  over  again,  until  none  are  left  uncalled  but 


326       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

the  three  needed  to  finish  Deuteronomy,  to  read  in  Genesis, 
and  to  act  as  Maftir,  or  until  the  patience  of  the  meeting  is 
exhausted.  The  last  called  before  these  three  is  requested 
to  "stand  up  with  all  the  boys,"  and  all  the  boys  under  thir- 
teen come  as  near  as  they  can  to  the  desk,  and  join  with 
him  in  the  benedictions.9  At  the  last  three  verses  of  Deuter- 
onomy all  rise  and  read  them  before  the  reader;  and  so 
again  in  Genesis  all  chime  in,  "There  was  evening  and 
there  was  morning,"  six  times,  and  again  in  the  three 
verses  about  the  Sabbath  of  Creation. 


BOOK  V 
The  Jewish  Home 


BOOK  V 

THE  JEWISH  HOME 

CHAPTER  I 

MINIAN    AT    THE    HOUSE 

THE  liturgy  which  has  been  analyzed  in  the  Second 
Book,  excepting  only  the  responsive  parts,  such  as,  "Bless 
ye,"  or  the  "Kaddi'sh,"  or  the  "Thrice-Holy,"  and  some  of 
the  lesser  prayers  for  "this  congregation,"  are  just  as  much 
intended  for  the  individual  at  his  home  as  for  those  who 
meet  at  a  common  place  of  worship;  in  fact,  taking  all  the 
days  of  the  year  together,  much  more  is  recited  in  private 
houses  than  in  the  Synagogue. 

But  there  is  an  occasion  when  services  must  be,  another 
when  they  are  likely  to  be,  carried  on  at  the  house;  the 
former  is  the  week  of  mourning,  the  latter  the  anniversary 
of  a  father's  or  mother's  death.  The  former  is  known  as 
Shib'a  (Seven),  the  latter  among  the  Jews  of  the  German 
ritual  as  Jahrscit  (anniversary),  no  Hebrew  term  having  ever 
been  contrived  for  it;  among  the  Sefardim,  as  Nahala  (inheri- 
tance). Deep  mourning  is  kept  for  father  or  mother,  son 
or  daughter,  brother  or  sister,  husband  or  wife.  The  ob- 
servance of  the  anniversaries  of  death  is  a  very  modern 
institution,  in  all  likelihood  not  quite  three  hundred  years 
old.1 

Deep  mourning,  or  "sitting  Shib'a,"  involves  staying  at 
home,  generally  in  the  house  in  which  the  death  took  place, 
for  nominally  seven  days  after  the  burial.  It  is  carried  on 

(329) 


330       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

in  honor  of  father  or  mother,  husband  or  wife,  son  or 
daughter.  (Before  the  burial  the  kindred  on  whom  the  duty 
to  bury  rests  are  absolved  from  reading  the  Shema  and  the 
Prayer,  and  from  the  observance  of  all  ceremonies  what- 
ever.)2 The  part  of  a  day  counts  for  a  whole  day,  and  the 
Sabbath  is  free.  Thus,  if  a  funeral  takes  place  on  Wednesday, 
the  mourners  "sit"  during  the  afternoon  service  of  that  day, 
the  evening  service  that  follows,  all  Thursday,  Friday  dur- 
ing morning  and  afternoon  services;  attend  at  the  Syna- 
gogue on  Friday  night,  and  Saturday  in  the  morning  and 
afternoon;  they  "sit"  again  on  Saturday  night,  all  Sunday 
and  Monday,  and  Tuesday  morning  during  the  services, 
and  for  one  hour  thereafter.  We  deal  here  only  with  the 
length  of  time  during  which  the  mourners  are  confined 
to  the  house,  not  with  the  customs  which  they  otherwise 
observe.  While  they  cannot  go  to  the  Synagogue,  it  be- 
comes the  duty  of  their  friends  and  neighbors  to  come  to 
them,  to  "make  up  Minian,"  that  is,  the  lawful  number  of 
ten  adults,  at  the  home;  so  that  they  may  have  <the  privileges 
of  a  responsive  service,  above  all  that  of  reciting  the  Kad- 
dish,  which  in  the  last  three  or  four  hundred  years  has 
taken  such  strong  hold  of  the  Jewish  heart.3 

The  services  at  the  house  during  the  "seven  days"  differ 
from  those  on  other  occasions;  thus,  Hallel  (on  Hanucca  or 
New  Moons),  the  outbreak  of  exultant  joy,  is  omitted  as 
unbefitting  the  newly  bereaved  widow  and  child  or  parent. 
Nor  is  the  lesson  from  the  Law  read;  for  the  study  of  the 
Tora  is  a  pleasure  in  which  those  in  deep  mourning  may 
not  join. 

For  a  similar  reason  the  Psalms  for  the  days  of  the  week 
(see  Bk.  II,  ch.  XIII)  are  omitted,  and  in  the  place  thereof 
some  Psalm  of  comfort  to  the  weary  (16  or  49)  is  read.  The 
old  custom  was  also  to  leave  out  the  Red  Sea  Song  from  the 
morning  hymns  and  to  substitute  for  it  Moses'  Song  of 
Warning  (Dent.  32);  and  this  is  still  the  rule  with  the  Se- 
fardim,  as  well  on  this  occasion  as  on  the  Ninth  of  Ab. 


MINI  AN  A  T  THE  HOUSE  331 

On  the  other  hand,  the  penitential  Psalm,  with  all  its  inci- 
dents and  surroundings  (including  those  for  Mondays  and 
Thursdays),  is  omitted;  for  the  grief  of  the  mourners  is  not 
to  be  aggravated  by  the  sorrow  of  the  community  for  its 
sins,  nor  by  its  plaints  over  undeserved  sufferings.  Lastly, 
in  the  Kaddish  after  the  Prayer,  which  elsewhere  is  read 
complete,  the  third  paragraph  (May  our  prayer,  etc.)  is 
omitted,  so  that  it  does  not  differ  from  the  Mourners'  Kad- 
dish (Bk.  II,  ch.  V).  In  fact,  the  latter  has  probably  grown 
out  of  this  omission. 

The  shorter  period  of  seven  days  is  met  with  in  the  5oth 
chapter  of  Genesis,  where  Jacob's  descendants  weep  near 
his  grave  for  his  loss;  the  longer  period  of  thirty  days  is 
prescribed  as  a  rule  in  Dettt.  21:  13,  and  found  illustrated, 
Deut.  34:  8,  in  the  mourning  of  all  Israel  for  Moses.  The 
Mishna  recognizes  both  periods,  but  hardly  anything  other 
than  shaving  is  forbidden  during  the  "thirty."  While  the 
Sabbath  only  interrupts  the  "seven,"  the  three  Festivals,  if 
they  happen  three  days  or  more  after  the  funeral,  stop  both 
the  "seven"  and  the  "thirty,"  and  at  all  events  the  former. 
The  Eighth  of  the  Feast  counts  as  a  new  Festival  for  this 
purpose.  The  Sages,  though  prescribing  seven  days, 
thought  that  really  three  days  of  deep  mourning  were 
enough,  and  according  to  Scripture  perhaps  even  one  day.4 

The  Days  of  Memorial  and  Atonement,  though  at  first 
treated  like  a  Sabbath,  as  only  interrupting  the  "seven,"  by 
the  rule  now  in  force  put  an  end  to  them.5 

The  prayer  meeting  on  anniversaries  stands  on  wholly 
different  ground.  Those  who  honor  the  memory  of  a  father 
or  mother  at  such  a  time  may  go  to  the  Synagogue;  if 
"Minian"  is  gotten  up  at  a  private  house  it  is  either  as  a 
mere  matter  of  convenience,  or  because  one  of  those  con- 
cerned would  like  to  act  as  leader  in  prayer,  and  might  not 
be  allowed  that  privilege  in  public.  But  the  order  of  service 
is  exactly  the  same  as  at  the  Synagogue.  Nothing  is  left 
out,  nothing  added.  If  a  scroll  is  at  hand,  the  lesson  i.s  read; 


332       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

if  it  is  New  Moon,  they  read  Hallel.  It  is  usual,  either  after 
or  before  the  service,  to  read  and  translate  a  few  sections 
of  the  Mishna,  in  order  to  give  occasion  for  the  Kaddish 
of  the  Rabbis  (see  Book  II,  ch.  V). 

Another  occasion  for  services  at  the  home  is  a  wedding, 
when  celebrated  in  the  afternoon.  If  there  are  ten  men 
present,  Minha  is  read  before  the  ceremony.  It  being  an 
occasion  of  joy,  the  penitential  Psalm  is  of  course  omitted. 
As  those  present  are  supposed  to  be  impatient,  the  service 
is  shortened  as  much  as  possible;  the  Prayer  is  at  once  read 
aloud  by  the  leader  as  far  as  the  Thrice-Holy,  the  rest  of  it 
silently  by  all. 

A  Jewish  wedding  in  its  modern  form  is  made  up  of  two 
parts,  which  anciently  might  be  separated  by  days,  months, 
or  years — the  betrothal  and  the  marriage  proper.  The 
former,  whether  by  ring  or  by  written  contract,  is  a  legal 
act,  not  a  devotion  or  service;  the  marriage  proper  con- 
sists only  of  this,  that  groom  and  bride,  standing  together 
under  a  canopy  which  represents  their  future  home,  drink  a 
cup  of  wine  together. 

The  following  seven  benedictions  are  spoken  before  they 
drink  it: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  Creator 
of  the  fruit  of  the  vine.  Blessed  be  thou,  etc.,  who  hast  created 
everything  to  thy  glory.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  etc.,  Maker 
(literally,  shaper)  of  man.  Blessed,  etc.,  who  hast  shaped  man  in  thy 
image,  in  the  image  of  thy  likeness,  and  prepared  for  him  perpetual 
succession  out  of  himself:  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  Maker  of 
man.  Let  the  barren  one  rejoice  and  shout,  when  her  children 
are  gathered  with  her  in  gladness:  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who 
gladdenest  Zion  with  her  children.  Gladden,  O  gladden  the  be- 
loved friends,  as  thou  didst  gladden  of  old  thy  first-made  man  in 
Paradise:  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  gladdenest  groom  and 
bride.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who 
hast  created  joy  and  gladness,  groom  and  bride,  rejoicing,  song, 
mirth,  and  pleasure;  love  and  brotherhood,  peace  and  friendship; 
may  soon,  O  Lord,  our  God,  (Jer.  33:  11)  be  heard  in  the  cities  of 
Judah  and  streets  of  Jerusalem  the  voice  of  the  groom  and  the 


MINI  AN  A  T  THE  HOUSE  333 

voice  of  the  bride,  the  jubilant  |ound  of  grooms  from  their  cham- 
bers and  of  young  men  from  their  feasts  of  song;  blessed  be  thou, 
O  Lord,  who  gladdenest  the  groom  with  the  bride. 

These  benedictions  are  found  in  the  Talmud  substan- 
tially, but  not  literally,  as  they  stand  now.6 

About  the  services  at  death  we  need  state  only  one  fea- 
ture, which  is  common  to  all  Israel;  it  is  the  desire  of  every 
good  Israelite  to  die  with  the  words,  "Hear,  O  Israel,  the 
Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One,"  upon  his  lips,  and  those 
who  surround  him  join  him  therein,  and  repeat  the  words 
when  he  can  do  so  no  longer. 

Rabbi  Akiba,  when  put  to  death  amid  horrid  tortures, 
expired  with  these  words  in  his  mouth.  Before  the  sev- 
enth century  this  custom  must  have  become  general  among 
the  Jews  of  Syria  and  Arabia,  for  from  it  the  Moslems 
learned  to  die  with  the  words,  "I  am  witness  that  there  is  no 
god  but  God." 


CHAPTER  II 

WHAT  CHILDREN  LEARN  FIRST 

THE  Mishna  teaches  that  children  should,  at  the  age  of 
five,  begin  to  read  the  Bible.  This  rule  is  still  carried  out 
literally  in  the  training  of  hundreds  of  thousands.1 

One  of  the  first  verses  learned  by  the  child  as  soon  as  he 
can  talk  is  Deut.  33:  4,  "Moses  commanded  us  the  Law,  a 
heritage  to  the  congregation  of  Jacob."  "Hear,  O  Israel" 
goes  with  it,  or  soon  follows,2  and  a  few  short  benedictions, 
among  these  that  upon  washing  the  hands  either  on  rising 
from  bed  in  the  morning  or  that  before  meals,  then  the 
short  grace  before  eating  bread: 

Blessed  be  thoti.  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who 
bringest  bread  forth  from  the  earth  (cmp.  Ps.  104). 

Also  similar  benedictions  before  eating  fruit,  "Blessed, 
etc.,  Creator  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree;"  before  partaking  of 
milk  or  other  animal  food  and  all  beverages  other  than 
wine,  "Blessed,  etc.,  by  whose  word  all  things  came  into 
being."  But  where  a  meal  begins  with  a  morsel  of  bread, 
the  benediction  over  that  covers  everything  else.  It  is  not 
worth  while  to  enumerate  here  all  the  other  benedictions 
before  varying  articles  of  food  or  enjoyments. 

The  Talmud  seeks  in  vain  for  any  Biblical  passage  that 
requires  us  to  bless  God  before  partaking  of  food,  and  con- 
tents itself  at  last  with  resting  the  duty  to  do  so,  which  was 
already  fully  accepted,  on  grounds  of  reason  or  natural  re- 
ligion.:1 

Children  also  learn  to  speak  their  benediction  at  lightning 
and  thunder,  which  helps  to  keep  them  from  superstitious 

(334) 


WHA  T  CHILDREN  LEARN  FIRST 


335 


fears,  and  to  bless  God  when  they  get  new  clothes,  in  the 
words  in  which  a  festival  is  received  (Who  let  us  live,  and 
kept  us  up,  and  made  us  reacn  this  time).4 

Children  are  also  taught  separately  some  of  the  Bible 
verses  in  the  "Reading  of  the  Shema  at  the  Bed,"  such  as 
Ps.  31 :  6  or  Ps.  121 :  4  and  Gen.  49:  18,  but  are  at  an  early 
age  led  to  recite  the  whole  or  a  great  part  of  it.  It  follows 
here  in  full,  except  as  far  as  reference  is  made  to  Bible  pass- 
ages or  to  earlier  parts  of  this  work. 

A  passage  of  the  Talmud,  already  quoted  for  the  bene- 
dictions upon  awaking  and  rising,  recommends  the  follow- 
ing devotion  upon  retiring  to  bed: 

The  first  paragraph  of  Shema  (Deut.  6:  4-9)  and  this  bene- 
diction : 

Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who 
layest  the  bonds  of  sleep  on  my  eyes  and  slumber  on  my  eyelids 
[and  who  givest  light  to  the  pupil  of  my  eye].  Be  it  thy  will,  my 
God,  to  let  me  lie  down  in  peace;*  [lead  me  in  the  path  of  duty, 
not  in  the  path  of  law-breaking;  do  not  lead  me  into  sin,  into 
wrong,  into  temptation,  or  into  contempt] ;  [may  the  good,  not 
the  evil  impulse  rule  over  me,  and  deliver  me  from  evil  happenings 
and  from  grave  sickness] ;  may  evil  dreams  or  evil  musings  not 
disturb  me.  May  my  couch  be  perfect  in  thy  sight;  and  illumine 
my  eyes,  lest  I  sleep  the  death.  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  who 
lightest  up  the  whole  world  with  thy  glory.5 

The  Germans  leave  out  the  parts  in  brackets,  and  dbly 
say,  "and  let  me  rise  in  peace"  at  *.  The  second  bracketed 
passage  is  omitted  in  the  Sefardic  Prayer  Book  also.  In 
practice  the  benediction  is  placed  before  the  verses  from 
Deuteronomy,  in  analogy  to  the  evening  service. 

In  the  older  Prayer  Books  of  the  Sefardim  the  night 
prayer  is  made  up  only  of  these  pieces  and  of  the  last  verse 
of  Ps.  90,  followed  by  all  of  Ps.  91,  as  in  the  Saturday  even- 
ing service  (Bk.  II,  ch.  XIII),  and  Psalm  3,  without  the 
title  heading,  which,  being  taken  from  the  history  of  David, 
would  here  be  out  of  place.  Both  Psalms  are  highly  appro- 


336        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

priate,  Psalm  91  by  reason  of  the  verse,  "Be  not  in  fear  of 
the  terrors  of  the  night  or  of  the  arrow  that  flieth  by  day," 
the  other  for  the  line,  "I  lie  me  down  and  sleep;  I  awake, 
because  the  Lord  holdeth  me  up." 

The  German  ritual  adds  further  the  benediction,  "Let  us 
lie  down,"  from  the  evening  service  (see  Bk.  II,  ch.  Ill), 
but  without  the  "sealing,"  as  to  repeat  this  here  would  be 
deemed  a  "vain  benediction;"  next,  the  third  benediction 
("Blessed  be  the  Lord  by  day"),  which  the  Germans  add  in 
the  work-day  evening  service  (Bk.  II,  ch.  XV),  also  without 
the  sealing,  or  close.  The  important  part  here  is  the  verse 
(Ps.  31:  6),  "In  thine  hand  I  commit  my  spirit;  thou  hast 
redeemed  me,  Lord,  God  of  truth;"  a  verse  which  is  especi- 
ally recommended  in  the  Talmud  as  a  sufficient  night  prayer 
in  itself.6  Then  come  a  few  verses  from  different  books, 
the  first  of  which  has,  in  Germany  proper,  obtained  the 
undeserved  prominence  of  being  about  the  first  thing  for 
children  to  learn  and  to  repeat  (Gen.  48:  16),  "The  Angel 
who  has  redeemed  me  from  all  evil  bless  the  lads!  etc." 
Exodus  15:  26,  which  follows  next,  is  more  appropriate; 
Zech.  3:  2  (And  the  Lord  said  to  the  Adversary),  not  so; 
while  Cant.  3:  7,  8  (Behold  the  litter  of  Solomon)  seems 
especially  ill-chosen;  for  Solomon,  as  here  said,  relied 
upon  sixty  armed  soldiers  rather  than  on  divine  help 
"because  of  the  fear  in  the  night."  Next  comes  the  priestly 
blessing  (Num.  6:  24,  25,  26),  which  children  thus  learn  to 
memorize  while  very  young,  and  then  the  two  most  im- 
portant lines  of  all  (each  to  be  said  thrice): 

(Ps.  121 :  4)  Behold  he  that  keepeth  Israel  shall  neither 
slumber  nor  sleep. 

(Gen.  49:  18)  For  thy  salvation  I  have  hoped,  O  Lord. 
(This  makes  three  words  in  Hebrew.) 

At  this  point  the  Cabbalists  left  their  mark,  first,  by  fol- 
lowing up  the  given  order  i,  2,  3  of  these  words,  with  the 
inversions,  2,  3,  I  and  3,  I,  2;  next,  by  this  invocation: 


WHA  T  CHILDREN  LEARN  FIRST  337 

In  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel!  at  my  right  hand 
is  Michael,  at  my  left  hand  Gabriel;  before  me  Uriel,  and  behind 
me  Rafael;  and  over  my  head  the  presence  (Shechina)  of  God. 

Then  follows  Ps.  128,  the  praise  of  labor  and  content- 
ment, and  lastly  a  verse  also  recommended  in  the  Talmud 
(Ps.  4:  5),  after  which  there  should  be  no  further  talking: 

Stand  in  awe,  and  sin  not. 

Speak  to  your  own  heart  upon  your  bed,  and  be  still.     Selah.7 

In  many  prayer  books  the  poem,  "Lord  of  the  World" 
(see  Bk.  II,  ch.  XVIII),  is  either  reprinted  or  referred  to 
at  the  end  of  the  devotions  on  retiring  to  bed,  its  last  couplet 
being  drawn  from  the  Psalm  verse,  "In  thine  hands  I  com- 
mit my  spirit." 

Pious  Jewish  parents  take  particular  pains  in  training 
their  children  to  say,  "Blessed  be  he  and  blessed  his  name" 
(Baruch  hu  u-baruch  Shemo),  whenever  the  father  has  pro- 
nounced the  first  three  words  of  a  benediction,  and  "Amen" 
at  its  close,  for  which  occasion  will  be  shown  in  the  following 
chapters.8  And  as  the  youngest  child  at  the  table  has  to 
ask  "the  questions"  on  the  Passover  night,  they  naturally 
form  one  of  the  first  reading  lessons. 

The  lighting  of  the  lamps  of  candles  on  the  eight  nights 
of  the  Hanucca  also  belongs  here,  as  it  is  quite  usual  in 
old-fashioned  homes  to  furnish  to  each  boy  his  own  set  of 
them,  one  for  the  first  night,  two  for  the  next,  and  so  on  to 
the  eighth,  beside  the  "servant,"  with  which  the  others  are 
lit.  The  lamps  or  candles  are  set  near  a  window,  where 
people  on  the  street  may  see  them,  soon  after  dark  before 
the  streets  are  deserted,  all  to  "publish  the  miracle."  Before 
lighting  them  the  following  benedictions  are  chanted,  the 
third  naturally  only  upon  the  first  night: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  commanded  us  to  light 
the  lamp  of  Dedication  (Hanucca).  Blessed,  etc.,  who  didst  work 

22 


338      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

miracles  for  our  fathers,  in  those  days,  at  this  season.    Blessed,  etc., 
who  hast  let  us  live,  and  kept  us  up,  and  made  us  reach  this  time.* 

A  song  (Ma'oz  Tzur)  follows  to  a  well-known  tune,  which 
for  lack  of  space  is  here  omitted. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  MEAL 

THE  important  acts  of  Jewish  home  life  cluster  round 
the  meal;  the  short  blessing  before  it  has  been  noticed,  but 
Grace  after  Meal  takes  a  higher  rank,  as  its  obligation  is 
drawn  from  the  written  Law. 

Moses,  in  his  great  farewell  discourse,  tells  the  children 
of  Israel  (Deut.  8:  7-10),  "For  the  Lord  thy  God  bringeth 
thee  into  a  good  land — a  land  of  wheat  and  barley,  of  vine 
and  fig  tree  and  pomegranate,  a  land  of  the  oil-olive  and  of 
honey  (i.  e.,  palm  syrup) — a  land  wherein  thou  shalt  not 
lack  anything.  When  thou  hast  eaten,  and  art  full,  then  thou 
shalt  bless  the  Lord  thy  God  for  the  good  land  which  he 
hath  given  thee." 

From  these  words  the  Sages  of  Israel  infer  the  duty  of 
saying  grace  after  a  meal  which,  in  whole  or  in  part,  con- 
sists of  any  of  the  seven  fruits  for  which  the  land  is 
praised.  This  grace  is  fuller  when  bread  made  of  wheat 
and  barley  (which  embrace  also  spelt,  rye,  and  oats)  forms 
part  of  the  meal;  in  modern  usage  a  piece  of  bread  the  size 
of  an  olive  is  deemed  the  leading  element,  all  the  rest  being 
only  side  dishes.  The  grace  after  bread  contained  at  first 
only  three  benedictions.  A  fourth  was  added  from  grati- 
tude for  the  poor  boon  which  the  Emperor  Antoninus  gave, 
to  bury  the  bones  of  the  brave  defenders  of  Bethar,  the  last 
national  stronghold  in  the  days  of  Hadrian. 

We  consider  first  the  address  and  response  when  three 
or  more  men  (or  three  or  more  women)  take  a  meal  to- 
gether. Two  men  and  a  boy  old  enough  to  have  ideas 
about  God  are  also  deemed  sufficient. 

(339) 


340      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

The  leader,  after  asking  leave  ("By  leave  of  the  master  of 
the  house — or  of  my  father — and  the  gentlemen"),  proceeds: 

"We  will  bless  him  from  whose  wealth  we  have  eaten." 

The  others  respond: 

"Blessed  be  he  from  whose  wealth  we  have  eaten,  and 
through  whose  goodness  we  live." 

When  there  are  ten  at  table  God's  name  is  employed  in 
the  address  and  response: 

"We  will  bless  our  God,  from  whose  wealth  we  have 
eaten." 

"Blessed  be  our  God,  from  whose  wealth  we  have  eaten, 
and  through  whose  goodness  we  live." 

When  there  are  ten  at  a  wedding  meal,  after  "our  God" 
the  words,  "in  whose  dwelling  is  joy,"  are  inserted  in  both 
address  and  response.  The  leader  in  every  case  repeats  the 
response  after  the  others. 

Every  word  and  almost  every  letter  of  the  address  and 
response  are  thoroughly  discussed  in  the  Talmud,  the  read- 
ing now  in  use  being  in  each  case  claimed  as  that  of  the 
learned,  and  some  variant  denounced  as  the  badge  of  ignor- 
ance. There  is  also  a  probable  story  told  of  Simeon  ben 
Shetah  opening  grace  after  dinner  with  this  address  after  a 
word  skirmish,  when  seated  at  table  with  King  Jannaeus  and 
Queen  Salome. 

For  the  purpose  of  intertwining  religious  with  home 
feelings,  the  love  of  God  with  the  love  of  parents,  this 
short  address  and  response  have  been  invaluable.  Father 
and  sons  are  held  together  at  the  scantiest  and  coarsest 
meal,  if  it  but  embraces  a  crust  of  bread.1 

Of  the  benedictions  that  follow,  the  first  is  fitted  for  men 
of  any  creed  or  race,  if  only  they  believe  in  God.  It  reads 
in  the  German  ritual  thus: 

I.  Blessed  be  them,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,*  he 
who  feedeth  the  whole  world  in  his  goodness  with  grace,  kindness, 
and  mercy,  he  (Ps.  136:  25)  "giveth  food  to  all  flesh,  for  his  mercy 
endureth  forever."  And  with  his  always  great  goodness,  we  have 


THE  MEAL 


341 


not  lacked,  and  may  we  not  lack  food  forever.  For  the  sake  of  his 
great  name,  for  he  feedeth,  and  taketh  care  of  all,  and  doeth  good 
to  all,  and  prepareth  food  for  all  his  creatures  that  he  hath  made.** 
Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  feedeth  all. 

The  Sefardim  insert  at  *  "who  feedeth  us,  not  from  our 
own  wealth,  who  provideth  for  us,  not  from  our  own  work," 
and  at  **  quote,"As  it  is  written  (Ps.  145:  16):  Thou  openest 
thy  hand,  and  fillest  the  desire  of  all  that  liveth."  Both 
these  additions  are  rather  modern,  being  unknown  to  Abu- 
draham. 

The  second  benediction  is  meant  as  a  literal  compliance 
with  the  law  in  Deuteronomy.  At  an  early  date  it  was,  how- 
ever, held  obligatory  to  thank  not  only  for  the  possession  of 
the  promised  land,  but  also  for  the  deliverance  from  Egypt, 
for  the  gift  of  the  Law,  and  for  the  covenant  with  Abra- 
ham. The  benediction  has  now  with  the  Germans  the  fol- 
lowing form: 

II.  We  thank  thee,  O  Lord,  our  God,  for  that  thou  gavest  as  a 
heritage  to  our  fathers  a  delightful,  good,  and  spacious  land,  that 
thou  hast  brought  us  forth  from  Egynt,  and  redeemed  us  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage,  for  thy  covenant  which  thou  hast  sealed 
on  our  body,  for  thy  law  which  thou  hast  taught  us,  and  thy  ordi- 
nances wherein  thou  hast  instructed  us,  for  the  life,  grace,  and  kind- 
ness which  thou  hast  bestowed  on  us,  and  for  the  food  to  eat;  for 
thou  art  our  feeder  and  provider;  every  day,  at  every  time,  at  each 
moment.* 

For  all  this,  O  Lord,  our  God,  we  give  thanks  to  thee  and  bless 
thee.  Be  thy  name  blessed  in  the  mouth  of  all  that  liveth,  always 
and  for  evermore;  as  it  is  written:  "When  thou  hast  eaten,  and  art 
full,  thou  shalt  bless  the  Lord,  thy  God,  for  the  good  land  he  hath 
given  thee."  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  for  the  land  and  for  the 
food. 

The  next  benediction,  which  ends  in  a  prayer  for  the 
building  of  Jerusalem,  is,  by  the  fullest  testimony  which 
Mishna  and  Talmud  can  give,  much  older  than  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  by  Titus;  but  it  may  have  been  considerably 
modified  by  that  event: 


342       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

III.  Show  mercy,  O  Lord,  our  God,  to  Israel  thy  people,  and 
to  thy  holy  city  Jerusalem,  and  to  Zion,  the  camp  of  thy  glory, 
and  to  the  kingdom  of  David,  thy  anointed,  and  to  the  great  and 
holy  House,  over  which  thy  name  was  pronounced.  Our  God,  our 
Father,  be  thou  our  shepherd,  feed  us,  take  care  of  us,  sustain  us; 
and  give  us  breathing  room  speedily,  O  Lord,  our  God,  out  of  all 
our  troubles;  and  put  us  not  in  dependence  on  the  gifts  or  loans  of 
flesh  and  blood  [Sefardim  add:  for  their  gift  is  small,  and  the  dis- 
grace great],  but  only  on  thy  full,  thy  holy,  thy  wide-open  hand, 
that  we  may  not  be  put  to  shame  or  to  blush  for  evermore.* 

And  build  Jerusalem,  thy  holy  city,  speedily  in  our  days.  Blessed 
be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  in  thy  mercy  buildest  Jerusalem.  Amen.2 

This  is  the  only  benediction  which  he  that  pronounces  it 
himself  closes  with  "Amen."  The  word  was  put  there,  when 
the  less  obligatory  fourth  benediction  was  added  to  "Grace," 
as  a  hint  to  busy  servants  or  workmen  that  they  might 
leave  the  table  and  go  to  their  work. 

At  the  point  *  the  Sabbath  is  thus  noticed: 

Be  pleased  and  strengthen  us,  O  Lord,  our  God,  through  thy 
commandments,  even  through  the  commandment  of  this  great 
and  holy  seventh  day,  the  Sabbath ;  for  this  day  is  great  and  holy 
to  rest  and  stop  from  toil  according  to  thy  command;  and  in  thy 
favor  thou  wilt  give  us  such  rest,  O  Lord,  our  God,  that  there  be 
no  distress  or  trouble  thereon.  Let  us  see  the  comfort  of  Zion  and 
the  upbuilding  of  Jerusalem,  thy  holy  city;  for  thou,  O  Lord,  art 
able  to  save  and  able  to  give  comfort. 

On  New  Moons  and  all  Festivals  and  Middle  Days  the 
petition,  "May  our  remembrance,"  given  in  Book  II,  ch. 
VII,  and  again  in  ch.  VIII,  is  here  inserted  (on  a  Sabbath 
after  the  above  petition  for  the  Sabbath)  with  this  change 
in  the  closing  words,  "thou  art  a  gracious  and  merciful 
God  and  King,"  the  last  word,  "King,"  is  omitted.  And 
herein  lies  a  curious  protest  against  Christian  dogma;  the 
Kingdom  of  David  and  the  Kingdom  of  God  are  not  to 
be  mentioned  in  the  same  benediction,  for  they  are  widely 
different  in  their  scope  and  meaning. 

On  a  Sabbath  the  Sefardim  leave  out  the  last  petition, 


THE  MEAL 


343 


"Build  Jerusalem,"  and  wind  up  thus,  "Blessed,  etc., 
who  comforts  Israel  by  building  Jerusalem.  Amen."  The 
idea  is  not  to  ask  for  anything  on  the  Sabbath  that  is  prayed 
for  in  the  work-day  Praysr. 

The  insertion  for  the  Sabbath,  while  not  set  out  at  large 
in  the  Talmud,  is  treated  by  it  as  well-known  and  highly 
imperative;  a  short,  separate  benediction  for  the  Sabbath, 
New  Moon,  or  Festival  is  prescribed  for  those  who  should 
forget  to  insert  it  at  the  proper  place.3 

The  gist  of  the  fourth  benediction  is  in  these  words, 
"Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who 
art  good  and  doest  good,"  which  were  spoken  for  a  long 
time  before  the  war  of  Bethar  upon  the  receipt  of  good  news. 
But  it  must  at  an  early  day  have  grown  into  much  greater 
bulk,  otherwise  the  hint  would  not  have  been  given  to 
workmen  to  leave  the  table  by  the  "Amen"  which  precedes 
it.  It  is  in  full: 

IV.  Blessed  be,  etc.,  the  God,  our  Father,  our  King,  our  (a)  Ma- 
jestic, our  (V)  Creator,  our  (g)  Redeemer,  our  (q)  Holy  One,  the 
Holy  One  of  Jacob,  our  (r)  Shepherd,  the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  the 
King,  "good  and  doing  good"  to  all,  who  on  every  day  does  and 
has  done  and  will  do  good  to  us.  He  has  bestowed,  and  does  and 
will  forever  bestow  upon  us  in  grace,  kindness,  and  mercy,  enlarge- 
ment, deliverance,  and  prosperity,  blessing  and  salvation,  provision 
and  sustenance,  life  and  peace,  and  every  good  thing;  and  may  ht 
never  let  us  lack  all  that  is  good.* 

(1)  The  Merciful  shall  reign  over  us  forever. 

(2)  The   Merciful   shall  be  blessed  in  the  heavens   and   on  the 
earth. 

(3)  The  Merciful  shall  be  praised  in  all  ages,  shall  be  glorified 
through  all  changes,  and  honored  to  all  eternities. 

(4)  May  the  Merciful  give  us  honorable  support. 

(5)  May  the  Merciful  break  the  yoke  of  exile  from  our  necks, 
and  lead  us  in  erect  gait  to  our  land. 

(6)  May  the  Merciful  send  plentiful  blessing  into  this  house  and 
upon  this  table  at  which  we  have  eaten. 

(7)  May    the    Merciful    send    us   the    Prophet    Elijah    of   happy 
memory,  who  will  tell  us  good  news,  of  salvation  and  comfort. 

(8)  May  the  Merciful  bless  (a  child  of  the  family  says:  my  lion- 


344       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ored  Father  and  Mother)  the  Master  and  Mistress  of  this  House 
(the  pater  familias  says:  me  and  my  wife),  them  and  their  house- 
hold and  their  seed  (us  and  ours),  as  our  fathers  were  blessed, 
Abraham  in  all  things,  Isaac  of  all  things,  Jacob  as  to  all,  thus 
may  he  bless  us  all  together,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

[May  they  in  heaven  find  merit  in  him  and  in  us,  to  bring  us 
lasting  peace;  may  we  receive  a  blessing  from  the  Lord  and  jus- 
tice from  the  God  of  our  salvation,  and  let  us  find  grace  and  kind 
attention  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man]. 

(On  the  Sabbath)  May  the  Merciful  give  us  for  our  heritage  a 
day  which  is  all  rest  and  quiet  in  eternal  life. 

(On  New  Moons)  May  the  Merciful  renew  this  month  for  happi- 
ness and  blessing. 

(On  New  Year)  May  the  Merciful  renew  this  year  for  happiness 
and  blessing. 

(On  other  Festivals)  May  the  Merciful  give  us  for  our  heritage 
a  day  which  is  wholly  good. 

(In  the  Succa)  May  the  Merciful  raise  for  us  the  fallen  hut  of 
David. 

(9)  May  the  Merciful  give  us  the  merit  to  reach  the  days  of  the 
Messiah  and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come. 

(Ps.  18:  51):  He  gives  great  deliverance  to  his  King,  and 
showeth  kindness  to  his  anointed,  to  David,  and  to  his  seed 
forever.  He  who  maketh  peace  in  his  heights,  may  he  make  peace 
among  us  and  among  Israel,  and  say  ye,  Amen. 

(Ps.  34:  10,  ii ;  118:  i;  145:  16;  Jer.  17:  7.)  (Ps.  37:  25):  I  have 
been  young,  and  have  also  become  old;  but  I  have  never  seen  the 
righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  children  begging  bread.  (Ps.  29:  n): 
The  Lord  giveth  strength  to  his  people;  the  Lord  blesseth  his 
people  with  peace.4 

The  letters  (a),  (b),  (g),  (q),  (r)  denote  the  Hebrew  ini- 
tials of  the  words  so  marked;  probably  a  full  alphabet  has 
been  abridged  into  the  few  words  now  remaining. 

The  words  "in  all  things,  from  all  things,  all"  refer  to  the 
terms  employed  in  Genesis  as  to  the  wealth,  blessings, 
or  contentment  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 

The  reference  to  father  and  mother  (only  found  in  the 
German  ritual)  is  literally  "my  father,  my  teacher;  my 
mother,  my  instructress."  But  probably  "Mori,  Morathi" 
are  only  the  Hebraized  forms  for  the  Aramaic  Mar  and 


THE  MEAL 


345 


Martha,  Sir  and  Lady,  and  Immi  Morathi  is  "my  lady 
mother."  The  bracketed  lines  are  not  in  the  Sefardic  ritual; 
but  it  has  three  other  petitions,  "May  the  Merciful  put  peace 
among  us.  May  the  Merciful  heal  us  with  a  perfect  cure. 
May  the  Merciful  open  to  us  his  wide  hand." 

On  Sabbaths,  New  Moons,  and  Festivals  the  verse  from 
Psalm  1 8  is  read  as  in  II  Sam.  22.  "The  tower  (Migdol)  of 
deliverance,"  etc.  After  each  petition  to  "the  Merciful" 
comes  the  answer,  "Amen." 

The  second  benediction  is  known  as  "Thanksgiving." 
The  thanks  for  the  miracles  (if  such  they  may  be  termed) 
that  were  done  for  our  fathers  on  Purim  and  Hanucca  are 
inserted  in  this,  as  they  are  in  the  "Thanksgiving"  of  the 
Prayer  and  in  the  same  words  (see  Bk.  II,  ch.  VII).5 

As  the  Mishna  teaches  that  three  who  eat  at  one  table 
without  "words  of  the  Tora"  among  them  are  like  idolaters 
eating  from  the  "offerings  to  the  dead,"6  it  is  usual  to  recite 
or  sing  a  Psalm  at  the  table.  The  Sefardim  have  Psalm  23 
(The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd)  at  the  beginning  of  the  meal; 
the  Germans  recite  Ps.  137  (On  the  Rivers  of  Babylon)  on 
work-days,  on  Sabbath,  New  Moons,  and  the  Feasts,  Ps. 
126,  one  of  the  Songs  of  Degrees,  or  Ascents  (When  the 
Lord  returned  the  captivity  of  Zion).  A  number  of  hymns 
have  also  been  written  during  the  middle  ages  to  be  sung 
at  the  Sabbath  meal.  The  most  popular  of  these  refers 
to  the  "cup  of  blessing,"  which  is  drunk  after  grace.  At 
least,  it  was  the  custom  of  our  fathers  when  they  lived  in 
Western  Asia  to  drink  a  cup  of  light  wine  mixed  with  water 
at  almost  every  meal;  and  when  they  had  only  one  cup,  to 
hold  it  in  the  hand  during  grace  and  to  drink  it  after  grace 
with  the  words,  "Blessed,  etc.,  Creator  of  the  fruit  of  the 
vine."7 

At  a  wedding  supper  (and  such  is  counted  every  meal 
within  seven  days  of  the  ceremony  at  which  the  groom  and 
bride  are  present,  and  at  which  there  are  ten  men  ready  to 


346       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

say  grace  together),  the  seven  benedictions  set  out  in  Bk. 
V,  ch.  I,  are  recited  before  the  "cup  of  blessing."** 

We  here  subjoin  in  part  a  rhythmic  version  of  "Rock  from 
whose  wealth  we  have  eaten:" 

Our  Rock  with  loving  care, 
According  to  his  word, 
Bids  all  His  bounty  share, 
Then  let  us  bless  the  Lord. 

His  flock  our  Shepherd  feeds 
With  graciousness  divine, 
He  satisfies  our  needs 
With  gifts  of  bread  and  wine. 
Therefore  with  one  accord 
We  will  His  name  adore, 
Proclaiming  evermore 
None  holy  as  the  Lord. 
Our  Rock,  etc. 

Thy  city  fill  once  more, 
Thy  temple-walls  upraise, 
There  will  we  Thee  adore 
With  joyful  songs  of  praise, 
Thee,  Merciful,  Adored, 
We  bless  and  sanctify, 
With  wine-cups  filled  up  high, 
By  blessings  of  the  Lord. 
Our  Rock,  etc. 

But  by  the  side  of  all  this  elaboration  for  solemnly  clos- 
ing and  blessing  the  meal,  we  read  of  one  of  the  Babylonian 
worthies,  Benjamin  the  Shepherd,  whose  grace  was  made  up 
of  five  Aramaic  words,  "Blessed-be  trie-Merciful  (Rah- 
mana),  the-Master  of-this  bread,"  and  it  was  held  to  be  a 
sufficient  compliance  with  the  Biblical  command.9 

After  drinking  wine  (as  much  as  the  contents  of  a  fair- 
sized  hen  egg  and  a  half),  after  eating  food  made  of  the  five 
grains  other  than  bread,  or  after  grapes,  dates,  figs,  olives, 
or  pomegranates,  otherwise  than  at  a  meal, an  abstract  of  the 
benedictions  of  grace  is  spoken.  We  give  it  here  in  the 


THE  MEAL 


347 


form  it  takes  after  drinking  wine;  else  the  words,  "susten- 
ance and  food"  or  "tree  and  fruit  of  the  tree"  take  the  place 
of  "vine  and  fruit  of  the  vine,"  and  "sustenance"  or  "fruits," 
of  the  words,  "fruit  of  the  vine."  .Those  who  are  not  ob- 
servant enough  to  recite  this  benediction  at  any  other  time, 
do  so  perhaps  in  the  Passover  night  service: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  for  the 
vine  and  the  fruit  of  the  vine  and  the  produce  of  the  field,  and  for 
the  delightful,  good,  and  wide  land  which  thou  gavest  to  our 
fathers  to  eat  of  its  fruit  and  to  be  filled  from  its  bounty.  Have 
mercy,  O  Lord,  our  God,  on  Israel  thy  people,  and  Jerusalem, 
thy  city,  and  bring  us  into  it,  and  gladden  us  therein,  that  we  may 
eat  of  its  fruit  and  bless  thee  therefor  in  holiness  and  purity  (and 
strengthen  us  on  this  Sabbath)  (and  gladden  us  on  this  Feast  of  Un- 
leavened Bread,  etc.) ;  for  thou  art  good  and  doest  good  to  all. 
Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  for  the  land  and  for  the  fruit  of  the  vine.10 


CHAPTER  IV 

SANCTIFICATION    AND    SEPARATION 

THE  first  line  of  the  Fourth  Commandment  truly  ren- 
dered reads,  "Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  hallow  it!"  It 
is  thus  the  duty  of  every  Israelite,  as  soon  as  Sabbath 
comes  in  on  Friday  at  night-fall,  to  name,  to  think  of,  and 
to  feel  its  holiness.  We  have  heretofore  seen  how  this  is 
done  in  the  middle  benediction  of  the  Prayer;  but  our 
fathers  knew  that  the  true  spirit  of  the  Sabbath  could  be 
caught  only  in  the  home  circle,  where  husband  and  wife, 
parents  and  children  meet  at  the  meal. 

"Thy  wife  as  a  fruitful  vine  at  the  sides  of  thy  house, 
Thy   children   like   olive  branches  around   the  table." 
And  they  instituted  the  Sanctification  (Kiddush,  whence 
the  Christian  Sacrament)  over  the  cup  of  wine  at  the  place 
of  the  meal,  in  short,  over  bread  and  wine,  as  Melchizedek 
blessed  God  in  the  days  of  Abraham. 

Before  darkness  sets  in  on  Friday,  the  housewife  lights  in 
the  dining  room  extra  candles  or  a  special  lamp  in  honor 
of  the  Sabbath,  first  giving  thanks  thus: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hath 
sanctified  us  by  his  commandments,  and  commanded  us  to  light 
the  Sabbath  lamp.1 

When  the  husband  and  sons  come  back  from  the  Syna- 
gogue (women  were  not  wont  to  attend  it  on  Friday  night), 
they  find  the  table  laid  with  a  clean  table-cloth,  and  where 
the  head  of  the  family  sits,  two  loaves  of  bread  (generally 
baked  for  the  occasion),  in  memory  of  the  double  portion  of 
manna  that  was  gathered  on  Fridays,  lie  covered  with  a 

(348) 


SA.\r/7/'VCA770.\  AX/)  .VAV.  JAM  TION  349 

napkin,  and  next  to  them  stands  a  cup  and  by  it  a  jug  or 
bottle  of  wine  to  fill  it. 

The  husband  chants  the  praises  of  "the  woman  of  force" 
(Proverbs  31:  10-31),  each  man  fondly  believing  that  she 
is  reproduced  in  his  own  wife.  If  he  has  a  Cabbalistic  tinge, 
or  if  he  "says"  everything  that  the  Cabbalists  have  crowded 
into  the  Prayer  Book,  he  will,  however,  first  greet  the  "mes- 
sengers in  attendance,  messengers  of  peace." 

The  Kiddush  itself  begins  with  the  verses  in  Genesis  2, 
which  tell  of  God's  rest  on  the  Sabbath  day;  but  it  is  usual 
to  start  a  few  words  further  back,  thus: 

It  was  evening  and  it  was  morning,  the  sixth  day. 

And  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  finished  and  all  their  host. 
And  God  finished  on  the  seventh  day  all  the  work  which  he  had 
made,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  the  work  that  he 
had  made.  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day  and  hallowed  it;  for 
on  it  he  rested  from  all  the  work  which  God  had  created  and 
made. 

These  verses  are  spoken  though  the  Sabbath  be  also  a 
Festival.  The  master  of  the  house  then  holds  up  the  full 
cup  and  proceeds: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  the  crea- 
tor of  the  fruit  of  the  vine. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and  wast  pleased  with  us,  and 
hast  given  us  for  a  heritage,  in  love  and  favor,  thy  holy  Sabbath, 
a  memorial  of  the  work  of  creation.  For  it  precedes  all  the  holy 
convocations,  in  memory  of  the  going  forth  from  Egypt.  For 
thou  hast  chosen  us,  and  hast  hallowed  us  above  all  nations,  and 
hast  given  us,  in  love  and  favor,  thy  holy  Sabbath  for  a  heritage. 
Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  hallowest  the  Sabbath.2 

The  master  then  drinks  from  the  cup  and  hands  it  to  his 
wife,  and  she  passes  it  to  the  children  and  other  persons  at 
the  table,  and  all  drink  from  it.  Then  they  wash  their 
hands,  the  master  thanks  for  the  bread,  cuts  one  loaf,  takes 
a  morsel  for  himself,  and  distributes  pieces  to  the  others. 


350       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

If  no  wine  is  available,  they  wash  their  hands  first,  and 
substitute  the  benediction  over  bread  for  that  over  wine, 
and  the  bread  is  cut  and  distributed  at  once.  To  each 
benediction  those  present  answer  "Amen." 

On  the  nights  of  the  three  Festivals,  the  hallowing  of  the 
feast  (say  the  Passover)  takes  the  following  form: 

Blessed  be  them,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  hast 
chosen  us  from  every  tribe,  and  lifted  us  over  every  tongue;  thou 
gavest  us,  O  Lord,  our  God  (in  love,  Sabbaths  for  rest),  set  times 
for  gladness,  feasts  and  seasons  for  joy;  this  (Sabbath  day  and 
this)  *day  of  the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread,  the  season  of  our 
liberation,  in  memory  of  the  going  forth  from  Egypt;  for  thou  hast 
chosen  us,  and  hast  hallowed  us,  and  hast  given  us  (in  love  and 
favor)  in  gladness  and  joy  the  (Sabbath  and  thy)  holy  set  times 
for  a  heritage;  blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  hallowest  (the  Sab- 
bath and)  Israel  and  the  seasons.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our 
God,  King  of  the  world,  who  has  let  us  live,  and  kept  us  up,  and 
made  us  reach  this  season. 

The  proper  changes  are  made  on  Pentecost,  Feast  of 
Huts,  and  the  Eighth,  as  shown  in  Bk.  II,  ch.  IX,  in  the 
paragraph,  "Thou  gavest  us."  On  the  last  days  of  the 
Passover  the  thanks  for  reaching  the  season  are  omitted. 

On  the  night  of  the  New  Year  the  benediction  proceeds 
at  *: 

"This  Day  of  Memorial,  a  day  of  alarm  sound,  a  holy  convoca- 
tion, in  memory  of  the  going  forth  from  Egypt,  and  thy  word  is  true 
and  standeth  forever.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  King  over  all  the 
earth,  who  hallowest  (the  Sabbath  and)  Israel  and  the  Day  of 
Memorial." 

Then  the  thanks  for  having  lived  to  see  the  day.3  But 
how  is  a  festive  day  consecrated  upon  a  Saturday  night? 
To  those  who  keep  single  days  this  can  happen  only  on  the 
first  nights  of  Passover  and  Pentecost;  but  with  double 
days,  also  on  the  second  and  last  days  of  the  Passover,  on 
the  second  of  the  New  Year,  on  the  Feast  of  Huts,  and  on 
the  Joy  of  the  Law. 


SANCTIFICATION  AND  SEPARATION  351 

Wine  seems  indispensable.  After  two  benedictions,  one 
over  the  cup,  the  other  for  the  sanctity  of  the  day,  follows 
one  over  the  light,  which  on  the  Sabbath  just  ended  it  was 
unlawful  to  produce  from  fire: 

"Blessed  be  them,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  Creator 
of  the  light-rays  of  the  fire." 

Then  this  "separation"  (compare  Bk.  II,  ch.  IX): 

''Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  who  dis- 
tinguishest  between  holy  and  profane,  between  light  and  darkness, 
between  Israel  and  the  nations,  between  the  seventh  day  and  the 
six  work-days;  between  the  holiness  of  the  Sabbath  and  the 
holiness  of  the  holiday  thou  hast  distinguished,  and  thou  hast  dis- 
tinguished and  sanctified  thy  people  Israel  in  thine  own  holiness. 
Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  distinguishes!  between  holy  and 
unholy." 

Then  the  thanks  for  living  to  see  the  day. 

On  Festivals,  as  on  Friday  night,  the  meal  proceeds  right 
after  the  Kiddush,  but  two  loaves  are  not  required. 

The  five  benedictions  for  a  Festival  on  Saturday  night 
are  a  combination  of  the  Kiddush  with  the  Habdala  or  Sep- 
aration.4 

The  Talmud  says  quaintly:  When  the  children  of  Israel 
were  poor,  it  was  ordained  to  "separate"  in  the  Prayer; 
when  they  got  to  be  rich,  to  separate  over  the  cup;  then 
they  got  poor  again,  and  again  separated  in  the  Prayer. 
But  it  is  the  custom  to  do  both,  first  to  say  the  evening 
Prayer  with  the  "separation"  or  "distinction"  in  the  fourth 
benediction;  afterwards  to  recite  the  Habdala  over  a  cup 
of  wine,  a  lighted  wax  candle,  and  a  spice  box.  Including 
the  verses  with  which  the  ceremony  is  introduced  in  the 
German  ritual  the  whole  of  it  runs  thus: 

(Isa.  12:  2,  3):  Behold  the  God  of  my  salvation,  I  trust  and  do 
not  fear;  for  my  strength  and  song  is  Jah  the  Lord;  and  he  hath 
become  my  salvation.  And  ye  shall  draw  water  with  joy  from 
the  springs  of  salvation. 


352        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

(Ps.  3:  9):  Salvation  is  with  the  Lord,  thy  blessing  over  thy 
people.  Selah! 

(Ps.  46:  12):  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us,  the  God  of  Jacob  is 
a  fortress  for  us.  Selah. 

(Esther  8:  i6j):  The  Jews  had  light  and  gladness  and  joy  and 
honor  (be  it  thus  with  us!).  (Ps.  116:  13):  I  lift  the  cup  of  salva- 
tion, and  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  Creator 
of  the  fruit  of  the  vine. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  Creator 
of  the  light-rays  of  the  fire. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  Creator 
of  many  kinds  of  spices. 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  who  distinguishest  between 
holy  and  profane,  between  light  and  darkness,  between  Israel  and 
the  nations,  between  the  seventh  day  and  the  six  work-days. 
Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  who  distinguishest  between  holy  and 
profane.5 

The  wine  is  then  drunk,  and  the  wax  candle  is  put  out 
with  drops  from  the  cup. 

The  first  and  fourth  benedictions  are  spoken  also  on  the 
nights  after  a  festival;  the  fourth  unchanged,  though  the 
distinction  to  be  made  is  not  between  the  seventh  day  and 
the  other  days  of  the  week.  The  formula  introduced  for 
the  Sabbath  was  deemed  sufficient  for  all  cases.  On  the 
night  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  the  "light-rays  of  the  fire" 
are  also  mentioned,  as  lighting  fires  is  forbidden  on  that 
day  as  on  the  Sabbath. 

Hymns  are  next  in  order,  each  of  which  has  its  well- 
known  tune.  There  is  one  common  to  the  German  and  to 
the  Sefardic  rituals,  recited  right  after  the  separation,  in 
eight  quatrains,  the  first  of  which  is  thus  rendered  by  Mrs. 
Lucas : 

May  He  who  sets  the  holy  and  profane 
Apart,  blot  out  our  sins  before  His  sight, 
And  make  our  numbers  as  the  sand  again, 
And  as  the  stars  of  night. 

The  third  line  of  the  Hebrew  text  is  here  slightly  ideal- 


SANCTIFICA  TION  AND  SEPARA  TION  353 

ized,  for  it  reads,  "multiply  our  seed  and  our  money  like 
the  sand." 

Every  verse  ends  with  the  word  Laila — night. 

In  another  hymn  they  pray  to  God  to  send  speedily 
Elijah  the  Prophet,  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  Elijah  the  Gilead- 
ite,  and  the  Anointed  King.  Another  gathers  in  an  al- 
phabet for  the  first  part  of  the  line  short  clauses  from 
Scripture  about  Jacob,  such  as: 

(Alef)  "God  said  unto  Jacob,"  (Beth)  "The  Lord  hath 
chosen  Jacob,"  while  the  second  part  of  each  of  the  twenty- 
two  lines  remains  (Jer.  46:  28),  "Do  not  fear,  my  servant 
Jacob."  The  most  pathetic  of  these  hymns,  more  so  by  its 
air  than  by  its  words,  is  made  up  of  eleven  triplets,  begin- 
ning: 

Honored,  awful,  and  terrible  one, 

In  my  distress  I  call  to  thee, 

The  Lord  is  with  me;  I  do  not  fear. 

The  first  two  lines  in  each  triplet  run  through  the  alpha- 
bet; all  three  rhyme  together. 

It  has  ever  since  Talmudic  times  been  the  usage  for  the 
leader  in  prayer  at  the  Synagogue  to  "sanctify"  over  the 
cup  at  the  Synagogue  except  on  the  first  two  nights  of  the 
Passover.  He  does  not  drink  himself,  but  lets  some  children 
take  a  few  drops  from  the  cup.  The  usage  is  rather  ir- 
regular, as  the  Kiddush  ought  to  be  performed  at  the  place 
of  the  meal.  It  was  justified  on  the  ground,  that  poor  trav- 
ellers were  in  oFden  times  entertained  in  a  room  adjoining 
the  Synagogue;  but  the  true  reason  was  that  even  with  the 
abstract  of  seven  benedictions  (see  Bk.  II,  chs.  I  and  IX) 
the  night  service  for  Sabbaths  and  Festivals  was  too  short, 
there  being  then  no  introductory  hymn  or  Psalms,  nor 
Alenu,  nor  Mourners'  Kaddish  at  the  end. 

The  Habdala  is  also  recited  in  the  Synagogue,  and  as  this 
is  not  connected  with  the  meal  or  table,  quite  properly. 

The  two  ceremonies  here  described  are  among  the  oldest 
23 


354      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

in  the  service.  True,  the  Talmud  says  that  the  duty  to  hal- 
low the  Sabbath  with  bread  and  wine  is  not  Scriptural,  but 
it  takes  this  ground  only  because  every  man  is  supposed  to 
have  already  hallowed  the  Sabbath  in  his  Prayer  before  the 
evening  meal.  Yet  the  sanctification  with  bread  and  wine 
was  probably  the  older  of  the  two,  as  service  by  acts  and 
words  is  always  older  than  service  by  words  alone.  The 
Sabbath  lamp,  the  companion  of  the  Kiddush,  was  one  of 
the  badges  of  the  Pharisaic  sect,  who,  in  the  benediction, 
as  it  is  seen,  claimed  for  it  divine  authority.  The  Kiddush 
for  the  Festivals  is  intertwined  with  the  four  cups  of  the 
Passover  night  (see  next  chapter),  and  is  as  old  as  these. 

The  aim  of  Habdala  is  to  keep  men  from  gradually 
shortening  the  Sabbath  at  its  latter  end.  One  must  delib- 
erately declare  that  the  night  has  set  in  before  he  can  return 
to  his  work-day  routine.  The  "first  Hasidim,"  or  Saints  of 
early  Maccabean  days,  may  have  instituted  the  Habdala 
in  their  zeal  for  the  Sabbath,  first  as  an  insertion  in  the 
Prayer,  and  when  the  war  was  happily  closed,  with  cup  and 
spices. 

There  is  a  "Great  Kiddush,"  so  called  by  way  of  irony, 
because  of  its  slight  importance.  Before  breakfast  on  Sab- 
bath and  Festivals  verses  appropriate  to  the  day  (Fourth 
Commandment  and  Ex.  31:  16,  17  for  the  Sabbath;  Lev. 
23:  44  for  the  three  Festivals;  Ps.  81:  4,  5  for  the  New  Year) 
are  spoken;  then  the  benediction  over  a  cup  of  wine  or 
strong  drink;  all  before  the  meal  is  begun  with  the  benedic- 
tion over  bread. 

The  ceremony  of  blessing  the  moon  may  be  mentioned 
here,  as  it  is  by  preference  performed  on  Saturday  night 
soon  after  Habdala;  the  moon  is  blessed  once  a  month  while 
growing  and  when  it  is  seen.  The  benediction  as  given  in 
a  Baraitha  runs  thus: 

Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord,  our  God,  King  of  the  world,  he  who 
by  his  command  created  the  skies,  and  all  the  host  by  the  breath 
of  his  mouth. 


.V.  \\CTfFK\-\  T/O\  .  t \/>  SI'./'AKA  77O.V  355 

He  implanted  in  them  fixed  law  and  time,  and  commanded  the 
moon  to  renew  itself;  a  crown  of  beauty  to  those  burdened  from 
birth,  who  will  in  future  be  renewed,  and  will  honor  their  Maker, 
for  the  glorious  name  of  his  Kingdom.  Blessed  be  thou,  O  Lord, 
who  renewest  the  months. 

A  later  authority  has  added  to  this  simple  blessing  a  great 
deal  of  half-Cabbalistic  trifles,  which  need  not  be  noticed 
here,  and  which  it  is  best  to  omit.6 

On  the  first  (and  second)  night  of  the  Feast  of  Huts,  or 
on  a  Friday  night  within  its  middle  days,  the  Kiddush  is 
performed  at  "the  place  of  the  meal,"  hence  in  the  Hut  (or 
booth).  After  the  benediction  for  the  bread  with  which  the 
meal  begins,  not  only  at  these  more  solemn  suppers^but  at 
every  meal  taken  within  the  Hut,  the  head  of  the  family 
proceeds : 

Blessed  be  thou,  etc.,  who  hast  sanctified  us,  etc.,  and  commanded 
us  to  sit  in  the  Hut.7 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PASSOVER   NIGHT 

THE  Mishna  lays  down  the  following  programme  for 
the  first  night  of  the  Passover,  supposing  that  the  Temple  is 
restored,  and  that  the  roasted  Passover  lamb  is  the  principal 
dish.  The  change  from  this  programme  to  the  one  followed 
in  our  days  is  very  slight: 

Even  the  poorest  Israelite  should  not  eat  supper  without 
reclining  (across  a  cushioned  bench),  and  none  should 
have  less  than  four  cups  of  wine.  When  the  first  cup  is 
mixed  (with  water,  as  all  wine  was  then  drunk),  he  blesses 
first  for  the  wine,  then  for  the  day.  When  they  bring  (the 
herbs)  before  him,  he  dips  with  (i.  e.,  dips  and  eats)  the 
horse-radish  before  he  comes  to  the  bread  wafers.  They 
bring  before  him  unleavened  bread,  horse-radish, and  a  mix- 
ture (of  apples  and  nuts),  and  two  kinds  of  meat,  and  in  the 
times  of  the  Temple  the  Passover  lamb  itself.  They  mix 
the  second  cup,  and  now  the  son  asks  of  the  father,  and  if 
the  son  has  not  the  sense,  the  father  teaches  him  to  say: 
Why  does  this  night  differ  from  all  other  nights,  for  in 
other  nights  we  eat  either  unleavened  or  leavened  bread, 
to-night  unleavened;  in  ordinary  nights  we  eat  other  herbs, 
to-night  bitter  herbs;  in  other  nights  we  eat  meat  boiled, 
broiled,  or  roasted,  to-night  all  roasted;  in  other  nights  we 
dip  perhaps  not  once,  to-night  twice?  And  according  to 
the  son's  intelligence  the  father  teaches  him,  beginning 
with  matters  of  reproach  and  ending  with  those  to  be  proud 
of,  and  discusses  the  text,  "My  father  was  a  wandering 
Syrian"  (Deut.  26:  5),  until  he  goes  through  that  passage. 
Rabban  Gamaliel  used  to  say,  Whoever  does  not  on  the 

(356) 


THE  PASSOVER  NIG  HI 


357 


Passover  pronounce  these  three  words,  Pesakh,  Matza, 
Maror  (Passover,  unleavened  bread,  bitter  herb),  has  not 
done  his  duty;  Passover,  because  God  passed  over  the 
houses  of  our  fathers;  unleavened  bread,  because  our 
fathers  were  delivered  from  Egypt;  bitter  herbs,  because  the 
Egyptians  embittered  the  lives  of  our  fathers  in  Egypt. 
In  every  generation  a  man  should  look  on  himself  as  if  he 
had  himself  gone  forth  from  Egypt,  as  it  is  written  (Ex.  13: 
8),  "Thou  shalt  tell  thy  son  on  that  day,  saying:  For  the 
sake  of  this  the  Lord  did  it  for  me,  when  I  went  out  from 
Egypt."  Therefore  we  are  bound  to  thank,  to  praise  and 
glorify,  etc.,  him  who  did  for  us  and  for  our  fathers  all 
these  wonders;  who  brought  us  from  bondage  to  freedom, 
from  grief  to  joy,  from  mourning  to  holiday,  from  gloom 
to  the  fullest  light,  from  subjection  to  deliverance;  let  us 
say  before  him,  Halleluiah  (i.  e.,  Psalms  113-118).  How 
far  do  they  go?  To  "the  flint  to  a  pool  of  water"  (i.  e.,  to  the 
end  of  114).  Then  the  benediction,  "Blessed,  etc.,  who 
redeemed  our  fathers  from  Egypt."  Thus  may  our  God 
and  the  God  of  our  fathers  bring  us  to  other  festivals  and 
seasons,  that  come  to  meet  us,  in  peace,  glad  through  the 
upbuilding  of  thy  city  and  joyful  in  thy  service,  and  may 
we  there  eat  of  the  sacrifices  and  Passover  lambs,  etc.; 
"blessed,  etc.;  he  has  redeemed  Israel."  They  mix  the  third 
cup, and  say  with  it  the  grace  after  the  meal;  then  the  fourth, 
and  with  it  he  finishes  the  Hallel  Psalms  and  adds  the  bene- 
diction of  song;  between  the  other  cups  he  may  drink  if  he 
chooses,  but  not  between  the  third  and  the  fourth.  After 
the  Passover  lamb  they  do  not  close  (or  take  leave)  "with 
Epikoma."1 

So  far  the  Mishna.  The  last  is  clearly  Greek;  it  may 
stand  for  Ephikomenon  (what  comes  later,  i.  e.,  dessert,  or 
Epikornon,  or  Epikomon),  whatever  that  may  mean.  At 
all  events,  a  hundred  years  after  the  date  of  the  Mishna 
neither  the  Rabbis  of  Tiberias  nor  those  of  Babylonia  knew 
it;  the  former  doubting  between  a  dessert  of  sweetmeats 


358       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

and  merry  music;  the  latter  between  the  dessert  and  merry 
visiting  from  house  to  house. 

In  our  days  the  Epikomen  is  the  part  of  one  Matza  which, 
early  in  the  evening,  is  laid  aside,  and  which  is  broken  and 
handed  around  at  the  supper  to  be  eaten  as  the  last  morsel. 

At  present  "they  (the  women  of  the  house)  bring  to" 
the  head  of  the  family  the  following  articles:  On  the  sup- 
per table  is  the  Seder-dish  (the  whole  service  is  called 
Seder,  or  Arrangement)  with  three  heavy  unleavened  cakes, 
made  for  the  purpose,  wrapped  up  in  napkins;  on  top  the> 
lay  a  roasted  bone  to  represent  the  Passover  lamb,  and  an 
egg  boiled  hard,  to  denote  the  free-will  sacrifice  of  the 
Feast  (Hagiga);2  horse-radish  in  two  forms,  green  tops  and 
roots,  a  bunch  of  parsley,  a  saucer  with  salt-water,  and  a 
cup  with  a  mixture  of  apples  and  almonds  or  nuts  (Haro- 
seth).  Wine  is  on  the  table  with  drinking  cups  for  each 
person  present,  big  or  little,  and  an  extra  cup  stands  ready 
filled  for  Elijah  the  Prophet,  should  he  come  in  an  unbid- 
den guest  to  honor  the  feast;  though  the  old  standards  say 
nothing  about  this  cup.  Cushioned  armchairs  are  provided 
for  the  master  and  mistress  of  the  house. 

The  programme  is  put  into  sixteen  Hebrew  words,  thus: 

(1)  Sanctify.  (9)  Bitter. 

(2)  Wash.  (10)  Wraps. 

(3)  Greens.  (11)  Table,  he  sets. 

(4)  Divide.  (12)  Table,  he  sets. 

(5)  Tells.  (13)  Hidden. 

(6)  Washing.  (14)  Blesses. 

(7)  Brings  forth.  •         (15)  Hallel. 

(8)  Unleavened.  (16)  Accepted.8 

1.  The  head  of  the  family  with  a  glass  of  wine  before  him 
reads  the  Kiddush  for  the  evening  as  on  other  Festivals, 
taking  clue  notice  of  Friday  or  Saturday  night,  if  the  Fes- 
tival should  fall  on  either. 

2.  The  master  of  the  house,  to  qualify  him  as  a  priest  for 
the  occasion,  then  pours  water  over  his  hands;  but  as  this 


THE  PASSOVER  NIGHT  359 

washing  is  not  prescribed  by  old  Rabbinical  law,  he  says  no 
benediction. 

3.  He  dips  the  parsley  in  salt-water,  blesses  as  in  other 
cases  before  eating  vegetables,  "Blessed,  etc.,  the  Creator  of 
the  fruit  of  the  earth,"  and  hands  tufts  of  the  bunch  around 
to  all  present,  and  all  eat.     This  is  a  deviation  from  the 
Mishna,  which  speaks  of  horse-radish  alone  and  of  no  other 
herb.    The  parsley  dipped  in  salt-water  is  to  represent  the 
hyssop  dipped  in  blood,  mentioned  in  Exodus  12. 

4.  He  breaks  the  middle  of  the  two  cakes  in  two,  puts  one 
of  the  halves  away  and  leaves  the  other  in  its  place  on  the 
dish. 

5.  "He  tells,"  i.  e.,  now  the  story  is  told  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  children.  A  "Haggada,"  or  story  of  the  Passover, 
is  attainable  in  both  Hebrew  and  English,  with  wood-cuts 
at  that,  for  25  cents  or  less,  and  it  is  therefore  not  worth 
while  to  reproduce  it  here  in  full.    First,  all  that  take  hold  of 
the  Seder-dish  or  of  the  napkin  on  which  it  rests,  lift  it  up, 
and  chant  (in  Aramaic): 

This  is  the  bread  of  affliction  which  our  fathers  ate  in  the  land  of 
Egypt;  whoever  is  hungry,  come  and  eat;  whoever  is  in  need,  come 
and  make  the  Passover  with  us  [this  year  here,  next  year  in  the 
Holy  Land;  this  year  as  subjects,  next  year  as  free  men]! 

The  first  part  of  this  formula  undoubtedly  reaches  back 
to  the  days  of  the  Temple.* 

Then  the  youngest  child  at  the  table  puts  the  questions 
nearly  as  given  in  the  Mishna,  though  the  intention  is  there 
conveyed  that  a  child  of  sufficient  intelligence  should  ask 
in  words  of  his  own  choice.  But  he  leaves  out  the  question 
about  the  meat  being  all  roasted  as  out  of  date,  there  being 
now  no  Passover  lamb  "roasted  in  the  fire,"  and  puts  in 
place  thereof,  after  the  other  three,  one  nearly  as  obsolete, 
"On  other  nights,  while  eating,  we  all  either  sit  or  recline, 
to-night  we  all  recline."  Couches  on  three  sides  of  a  ban- 
quet table,  the  guests  reclining  across  the  couch  and  leaning 


360       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

on  their  left  elbows,  must  needs  be  out  of  fashion,  since  we 
eat  our  food  with  knives  and  forks,  and  this  question  has 
thus  become  unmeaning.  The  father  answers  the  question 
in  the  words  of  Deut.  6:  21: 

"We  were  bondmen  unto  Pharaoh  in  Egypt,  and  the 
Lord  brought  us  out  thence  with  a  strong  hand  and  an  out- 
stretched arm,"  proceeding  in  post-Biblical  language  to 
say,  the  more  we  talk  of  the  departure  from  Egypt  the 
better,  and  telling  of  R.  Akiba  and  four  of  his  noted  col- 
leagues, who  talked  about  it  all  that  night  till  the  scholars 
came  to  call  them  to  the  morning  service;  and  quotes  the 
section  of  the  Mishna,  in  which  Ben  Zoma  proves  that 
the  departure  from  Egypt  should  be  mentioned  in  every 
night. 

Then  come  the  four  answers  which  Scripture  gives  for 
four  kinds  of  sons: 

The  wise  (or  learned)  son  asks  (Deut.  6:  20):  What  are  the 
testimonies,  statutes,  and  judgments  which  the  Lord,  our  God,  has 
commanded  you?  Thou  also  tell  him,  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  Passover  (as  far  as) :  They  do  not  after  the  Passover  lamb 
leave  off  with  an  Epikomen. 

The  passage  quoted  is  nearly  the  last  (probably  was  the 
last)  in  the  treatise  on  Passover;  the  meaning  is,  when  your 
son  wishes  to  know  all  the  law  on  the  subject,  teach  him  all. 

The  wicked  son  asks  (Ex.  12:  26):  What  is  this  service  to  you; 
to  you,  not  to  him,  he  takes  himself  out  of  the  generality,  and 
shows  his  unbelief;  hence  you  should  blunt  his  teeth  by  saying 
(Ex.  13:  8):  For  the  sake  of  this  the  Lord  did  it  for  me,  when 
I  went  forth  from  Egypt.  Had  he  been  there,  he  would  not  have 
been  saved. 

The  point  is  good,  but  the  Bible  does  not  give  that 
answer  to  that  question: 

The  simple  boy  asks  (Ex.  13:  14):  What  is  this?  And  thou  shalt 
tell  him:  With  a  strong  hand  the  Lord  brought  us  forth  from 
Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage. 


THE  PASSOl'ER  NIGHT  361 

And  he  who  cannot  yet  ask,  begin  thou  with  him  and  tell  him: 
For  the  sake  of  this,  etc.  (as  above),  which  does  not  apply  until 
the  hour  when  the  unleavened  bread  and  bitter  herb  are  lying 
before  thee. 

In  short,  the  Passover  table  is  to  serve  the  children  of 
tenderest  age  as  an  object  lesson.  This  apologue  or  par- 
able of  the  four  sons  is  due  to  R.  Hiya,  a  disciple  of  R. 
Tudah  the  Saint,  and  is  thus  later  than  the  Mishna.5 

Next,  in  conformity  with  the  rule  first  given,  to  begin  with 
matter  of  reproach  and  end  with  matter  of  pride,  the  master 
of  the  house  reads  from  Joshua  24  how  our  fathers  be- 
fore Abraham  were  idolaters,  but  he  was  chosen,  etc.,  and 
how  God  (Gen.  15:  13,  14)  "said  to  Abram,  thou  shalt 
surely  know  that  thy  seed  shall  be  strangers  in  a  foreign 
land,  etc.,  and  thereafter  they  shall  come  forth  with  great 
wealth."8 

Now  comes  the  discourse  on  the  four  verses  (Deut.  26: 
15),  "A  wandering  Syrian  was  my  father,  and  he  went  down 
to  Egypt,  and  he  sojourned  there  with  a  few  men,  and  he 
became  there  a  nation,  great,  strong,  and  numerous."  The 
first  clause  seems  to  be  misinterpreted,  as  if  it  read,  "A 
Syrian  (Laban)  was  ruining  my  father."  After  that  almost 
every  word  is  taken  up  separately  and  expounded  by  refer- 
ence to  some  other  verse  in  Exodus  or  in  other  parts  of 
Scripture.  At  last  "another  idea"  is  applied  to  the  last  of 
these  four  verses,  namely,  "Mighty  hand  is  two,  outstretched 
arm  two,  terrors  two,  signs  two,  wonders  two;"  here  are 
the  ten  plagues,  which  are  slowly  named, first  being  "blood," 
and  last  "the  smiting  of  the  first-born."  Next  come  three 
curious  specimens  of  Midrash,  ascribed  to  R.  Jose  the  Gali- 
lean, R.  Eliezer,  and  R.  Akiba,  all  Tannaim  of  the  highest 
rank,  in  which  it  is  figured  out  that  there  were  fifty  plagues 
in  Egypt,  and  two  hundred,  or  even  two  hundred  and  fifty, 
plagues  on  the  sea. 

Now  comes  the  enumeration  of  the  benefits  bestowed  on 
our  fathers  at  the  exodus,  with  the  refrain,  Dayenu  (enough 


362       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

for  us),  in  which  the  children  gladly  join:  Had  he  brought 
us  forth  from  Egypt  and  not  executed  judgments  upon 
them — Dayenu!  And  so  on:  not  executed  judgments  on 
their  gods — not  killed  their  first-born — not  given  us  their 
wealth — not  torn  the  sea  for  us — not  brought  us  through 
on  dry  land — not  drowned  our  enemies  therein — not  pro- 
vided our  needs  in  the  wilderness  for  forty  years — not  given 
us  the  manna — not  given  us  the  Sabbath — not  brought  us 
to  Mount  Sinai — not  given  us  the  Law — not  led  us  into 
the  land  of  Israel — not  built  for  us  his  chosen  temple — 
Dayenu! 

But  how  much  more  are  we  under  double  and  manifold  obliga- 
tion to  God,  when  he  brought  us  forth  from  Egypt,  etc.,  and  built 
for  us  his  chosen  temple,  to  atone  for  all  our  iniquities. 

Next  comes  R.  Gamaliel's  saying  on  the  necessity  of  pro- 
nouncing the  three  words,  Passover,  Matza,  Bitter  Herb; 
each  is  spoken  slowly,  and  the  two  latter  objects  as  they  lie 
before  the  company  are  pointed  to.  Each  is  supported  by 
the  proper  verse,  Ex.  12:  27;  12:  39;  i:  14. 

Then  follow  the  words  of  the  Mishna,  stating  the  duty  of 
every  man  to  look  on  himself  as  if  he  had  come  out  of 
Egypt,  quoting,  however,  another  verse,  namely  (Deut.  6: 
23),  "lie  brought  us  out  from  thence,  in  order  to  bring  us 
in,  and  give  us  the  land  which  he  swore  unto  our  fathers." 
Then  two  Hallel  Psalms  (113  and  114)  are  read;  then  the 
benediction,  "who  hast  redeemed  us,"  etc.,  as  in  the  Mishna; 
then  the  blessing  before  wine,  and  the  second  cup  is  drunk. 

6.  All  wash  their  hands  for  supper  in  the  usual  way. 

7  and  8.  The  head  of  the  family  breaks  pieces  off  the  first 
and  second  cake  for  himself  and  each  person  at  table,  so 
that  each  has  a  piece  of  each;  before  eating  he  pronounces 
two  benedictions,  which  all  repeat: 

Blessed,  etc.,  who  hast  brought  bread  forth  from  the  earth. 
Blessed,  etc.,  who  hast  sanctified  us  by  thy  commandments,  and 
commanded  us  about  eating  unleavened  bread. 


THE  PASSOVER  NIGHT  363 

9.  He  next  takes  a  bunch  of  the  bitter  herbs  (horse-radish 
tops)  for  each  person  present,  dips  it  in  the  Haroseth,  and 
hands  it  around  with  the  benediction,  "Blessed,  etc.,  who 
hast  sanctified,  etc.,  about  the  eating  of  bitter  herbs." 

10.  The  head  of  the  family  breaks  up  the  third  cake,  cuts 
the  horse-radish  into  slices,  folds  each  slice  between  pieces 
of  the  cake,  and  distributes  the  sandwiches  thus  made,  say- 
ing: 

In  memory  of  the  Temple  like  Hillel.  Thus  did  Hillel,  when  the 
Temple  stood.  He  would  wrap  together  pieces  of  Passover  Lamb, 
Matza,  and  Bitter  Herb,  and  eat  them  together,  so  as  to  carry  out 
what  is  written:  upon  unleavened  cakes  and  bitter  herbs  ye  shall 
eat  it.7 

11.  12.  Supper  is  brought  in  and  eaten. 

13.  The  half  cake  laid  aside  under  4  is  brought  out, 
broken,  and  handed  around  and  eaten. 

14.  That  is,  they  all  say  grace,  each  having  his  "cup  of 
blessing,"  which  is  the  third  cup  of  the  evening,  before  him. 
If  there  are  three  or  more,  the  head  of  the  family,  or  he  who 
acts  as  such,  makes  the  address.    Of  course  the  proper  parts 
for  the  Festival  are  inserted,  and  if  it  be  Friday  night,  those 
for  the  Sabbath.     They  then  say  the  benediction  over  the. 
third  cup  and  drink  it. 

The  door  is  then  opened  while  the  following  verses  are 
spoken: 

(Ps.  79:  6,  7):  Pour  thy  wrath  out  on  the  nations  which  do  not 
know  thee,  and  over  the  kingdoms  which  have  never  called  on  thy 
name.  For  they  have  eaten  Jacob  up,  and  wasted  his  dwellings. 
[The  Germans  add:  Ps.  69:  25;  Lam.  3:  66.] 

15.  "Hallel  of  Egypt"  is  finished,  that  is,  Psalms  115,  116, 
117,  1 18,  are  read  in  addition  to  the  two  which  were  read 
before  supper;  also  the  introductory  part  of  the  benediction 
after  Hallel,  but  not  the  closing  words  (Blessed,  etc.,  the 
King  praised  in  hymns).    Next  the  Great  Hallel,  i.  e.,  Psalm 


364       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

136.  Next  the  "Benediction  of  Song,"  or  Nishmath,  as 
given  in  Book  II,  ch.  XV,  to  the  end. 

After  this,  in  the  Sefardic  and  formerly  also  in  the  Ger- 
man ritual,  they  bless  and  drink  the  fourth  cup,  and  speak 
after  it  the  "one  benediction,  the  summary  of  three/'  given 
in  a  previous  chapter,  by  way  of  thanks  for  the  wine  that  has 
been  drunk. 

1 6.  Accepted.  This  meant  originally,  and  .with  the  Se- 
fardim  still  means  only,  the  service  is  at  an  end.  But  the 
Germans  now  express  this  by  a  little  rhyme,  about  thus: 

The  order  of  the  Passover  is  ended;  according  to  all  that  is 
right  and  prescribed;  as  we  had  the  privilege  to  order  it,  may  we 
have  the  privilege  to  work  it  out.  Pure  dweller  in  thy  heights; 
raise  up  thy  numberless  assembly;  lead  up  speedily  the  young 
shoots  of  thy  plant  redeemed  to  Zion  with  glad  song. 

Going  back  to  the  preceding  number,  the  Germans  insert 
a  Piynt  on  the  first  night,  based  on  the  words  in  Exodus 
12:  2/5,  "It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  night,"  each  line  of  the 
twenty-two  (from  Alef  to  Tav)  ending  with  the  word  Laila 
(night).  On  the  second  day  a  similar  Piyut  is  chanted, 
based  on  the  words,  "Ye  shall  say,  it  is  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Passover,"  each  line  ending  with  the  word  Pesakh*  Next 
comes  an  indescribable  jingle  (Ki  lo  na'e),  which  also 
runs  through  the  alphabet.  After  the  last  cup  and  the  little 
rhyme  given  above  under  16,  the  Germans  have  nerhaps  the 
merriest  time  of  the  whole  evening  in  three  songs,  which 
many  of  them  sing  in  the  German  tongue  or  rather  in  a 
Jewish  jargon. 

The  first  is: 

"Almighty  (the  word  is  chosen  because  like  its  Hebrew  counter- 
part it  begins  with  the  first  letter)  is  he;  he'll  build  his  house  very 
soon;  speedily,  speedily,  speedily;  in  our  days  very  soon;  God 
build;  God  build;  build  thy  house  very  soon. 

The  other  letters  of  the  alphabet,  "Blessed  is  he,  great  is 
he,  etc.,"  are,  to  save  time,  combined  into  four  groups,  the 


THE  PASSOVER  NIGHT  365 

rest  goes  on  as  above,  "he'll  build,  etc."     The  air  is  very 
simple  and  thoroughly  German. 

The  next  piece  begins,  "One  who  knoweth?  One  I  do 
know,"  and  runs  up  to  thirteen;  the  last  verse  shows  the 
contents  of  the  whole: 

Thirteen  who  knoweth?  Thirteen  I  do  know:  thirteen  are  the 
qualities;  twelve  are  the  tribes;  eleven  are  the  stars  (in  Joseph's 
dream) ;  ten  are  the  words  (commandments) ;  nine  are  the  moons 
of  birth;  eight  are  the  days  of  circumcision;  seven  are  the  days  of 
the  week;  six  are  the  orders  of  the  Mishna;  five  are  the  parts  of  the 
Law;  four  are  the  mothers;  three  are  the  fathers;  two  are  the 
Tables  of  the  Covenant;  one  is  our  God,  who  is  in  heaven  and  on 
the  earth. 

The  last  and  best  known  of  these  poetic  enlargements  is 
"One  Kid!  One  Kid!"  written  in  Aramaic  mixed  with 
Hebrew,  in  the  same  progressive  manner  as  the  preceding 
and  as  "The  House  that  Jack  built."  Its  last  and  all  embrac- 
ing part  runs  thus: 

Then  came  the  Holy  and  Blessed  God,  and  killed  the  Angel  of 
Death,  who  killed  the  butcher,  who  slaughtered  the  ox,  who  drank 
up  the  water,  which  quenched  the  fire,  that  burnt  the  stick,  which 
beat  the  dog,  that  bit  the  cat,  that  ate  the  kid,  which  my  father 
bought  for  two  shillings,  one  kid!  one  kid! 

The  meaning  is  well-known.  Our  Father  in  Heaven 
bought  the  kid  Israel  with  the  blood  of  circumcision  and 
the  blood  of  the  Passover.  The  Kid  was  swallowed  by  the 
cat,  Egypt.  Egypt  was  conquered  by  Babylon  (the  dog); 
both  by  the  Medes  and  Persians  (the  stick);  these  by  the 
fiery  Alexander;  Alexander's  empire  by  Rome,  which  like 
water  overspread  the  whole  world;  Rome  as  mistress  of 
Palestine  was  supplanted  by  the  ox,  the  Saracens.  So  far 
there  is  no  dispute.  It  seems  that  the  butcher  stands  for  the 
crusaders;  that  the  angel  of  death,  who  was  to  put  an  end  to 
their  cruelties,  was  only  hoped  for;  and  that  the  piece  was 
written  while  the  Latin  Kingdom  ruled  at  Jerusalem.  It  is 
objected  that  "One  Kid"  (Had  Gadyo)  is  not  found  in  ser- 


366       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

vice  books  older  than  the  sixteenth  century,9  but  it  could 
easily  have  been  handed  down  by  oral  tradition.  The 
Scfardim  in  Palestine  recite  a  number  of  legends  con- 
nected with  the  Haggada  in  Spanish  to  this  day  without 
publishing  them  in  their  service  books. 

The  Jews  of  Yemen  enrich  their  Haggada  by  an  inser- 
tion at  the  beginning  rather  than  at  the  end,  i.  e.,  in  the 
Kiddush,  with  which  the  ceremony  begins.  Poor  and 
oppressed  as  they  have  been  for  the  last  1200  years,  they 
feel  the  joy  of  the  great  national  holiday  sufficiently  to 
congratulate  themselves  in  the  following  grandiose  words 
inserted  after  "he  has  chosen  us"  in  the  regular  form: 

He  was  pleased  with  us  and  beautified  us;  separated  us  as  a  holy 
gift  from  every  nation,  made  us  inherit  a  precious  land,  sanctified 
his  name  in  the  world  for  the  sake  of  the  fathers  who  did  his  will, 
did  mighty  deeds  for  his  own  sake;  his  wonders  are  past  finding 
out.  He  called  us  the  community  of  the  saints,  a  precious  vineyard, 
a  pleasant  plantation;  he  called  them  (us)  his  own  property,  took 
them  from  all  the  nations  of  the  earth;  for  they  are  compared  to 
the  host  of  heaven,  and  set  like  the  stars  in  the  firmament;  and 
they  were  the  uppermost  in  the  world,  and  honored  above  all 
tribes;  the  beaming  of  their  faces  is  like  the  radiance  of  the  sun, 
and  the  looks  of  their  likeness  like  that  of  the  ministering  angels. 
Kings  look  to  them  and  rise;  princes  bow  low,  on  account  of  the 
Lord  of  Hosts  who  has  chosen  them.10 

Here  we  have  the  pride  of  Israel  in  its  divine  'mission  car- 
ried to  the  verge  of  burlesque,  if  not  beyond  it.  But  setting 
aside  this  extravaganza,  which  the  religious  teachers  of 
Israel  in  other  countries  than  Southern  Arabia  have  wisely 
rejected,  the  prevailing  tone  running  through  the  Jewish 
service  book  for  the  Sabbath  and  Festivals,  and  to  a  great 
extent  through  all  our  services,  is  one  rather  of  exultation 
over  our  lot,  that  we  are  God's  children,  always  at  home 
and  welcome  in  our  Father's  house,  than  of  grief  for  our 
sufferings,  deserved  or  undeserved,  or  of  contrition  for  our 
sins. 


THE  PASSOVER  NIGHT  367 

I  have,  however,  no  reflections  of  my  own  to  add.  Let 
the  reader  draw  his  own  conclusions.  Following  the  cus- 
tom of  Jewish  commentators  and  editors,  I  now  close  with 
the  short  epilogue: 

Tarn  Ve-nishlam  Shebah  la-El  Bore  Olam. 

COMPLETE  AND  DONE,  PRAISE  BE  TO  GOD,  CREATOR  OF  THE 

WORLD. 


NOTES 


BOOK  I 

GENERAL   AND    HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION 
CHAPTER  I 

DIVISIONS   OF  THE  JEWISH   BODY 
(Pp.  11-18) 

'Curious  to  say,  this  latter  identification  is  approved,  or  at  least 
spoken  of  as  plausible,  by  such  profound  and  earnest  scholars  as 
Lenormant  and  Chevallier,  in  their  History  of  the  East.  The 
Spanish  writers  of  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies speak  of  those  of  the  Northern  ritual  as  Tzarfathim,  i.  e., 
French,  France  outside  of  Provence  being  then  the  chief  seat  of 
that  ritual.  The  Jews  of  England  were  but  a  colony  from  France. 

2Here  are  some  proofs:  (i)  The  vowel  marks  were  made  at 
Tiberias  in  Galilee,  and  agree  better  with  the  German  than  the 
Sefardic  style;  for  in  the  former  Kametz  is  always  o,  in  the  latter 
a  or  o;  in  the  former  the  Sheva  is  always  no  vowel,  in  the  latter 
either  none  or  a  light  and  short  one;  3  and  T\,  the  letters  which 
oftenest  take  the  Dagesh  lene,  are  to  the  Germans  changed  by  it  in 
sound,  to  the  others  not.  (2)  The  guttural  y  has  been  lost  by  the 
Germans,  as  according  to  Talmudic  testimony  it  was  lost  by 
the  Galileans.  Late  Phoenician  inscriptions  also  show  confusion 
between  Xandj,';  that  is,  the  heathens  of  Galilee  had  unlearnt  the 
sound  of  the  latter.  (3)  The  German  distinctions  in  2  and  r\  re- 
mind of  the  Aramaic  dialect,  the  Syriac,  spoken  in  the  provinces 
bordering  on  Galilee;  while  there  is  nothing  similar  in  Arabic, 
spoken  in  those  bordering  on  Judea.  (4)  The  Syriac  also  differs 
from  South  Aramaic  dialects  in  the  change  between  a  and  o,  just  as 
it  would,  if  spelled  with  Hebrew  letters  and  vowel  points,  differ  be- 
tween Germans  and  Sefardim.  (5)  In  Phoenician,  the  Hebrew  of 
Galilee,  as  we  know  through  Greek  and  Latin,  the  sound  of  Ka- 
metz was  mostly  o;  the  letter  name  lod,  Greek  iwra,  Latin  iota,  is 
the  Hebrew  ';  Carthago,  Kap-/rt3u>v,  the  Hebrew  Kart-hadashaCNew- 

(37i) 


372       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

town) ;  Dido  is  TTVT;  PU>IJ.(>S  is  m3.  And  the  Holem  was  not  a  pure 
0;  to  the  Romans  it  sounded  u;  e.  g.  Suffetes  (the  Consuls  of  Carthage) 
were  D'DSIK/  ;  jubilare  comes  from  ^31',  the  ram's-horn.  The 
Phoenician  Shurek  is  rendered  by  Roman  y,  which  recalls  the 
sound  of  this  vowel  in  eastern  Europe.  By  the  by,  the  better 
schools  in  Poland  and  Russia  now  teach  the  true  sound  of  the  y, 
the  short  vowel  value  of  the  Sheva,  and  the  correct  word-accent. 
Maimonides  (Hilchoth  Tefilla,  ch.  8,  §  12)  shows  the  exclusiveness 
of  the  Sefardim  by  disabling  one  who  stammers,  or  "confounds 
X  and  y  "  as  a  leader  in  public  worship. 

"The  1TD  of  R.  Amram  was  in  modern  times  known  only  from 
fragments  quoted  in  medieval  works;  in  1865  an  edition  was  printed 
from  the  only  MS.  extant;  but  it  is  on  its  face  thoroughly  "cor- 
rupt." It  contains  passages  belonging  exclusively  to  the  German 
Minhag,  and  many  compositions  by  Spanish  poets  of  the  twelfth 
century.  The  book  would  yet  have  great  historic  value,  if  we 
could  be  sure  that  the  transcribers  have  only  added,  and  not 
omitted.  For  the  German  ritual  the  Mahzor  Vitry,  dated  in  1208, 
is  the  highest  authority.  It  does,  however,  contain  some  passages 
which  at  present  belong  not  to  the  German,  but  only  to  the  Sefar- 
dic  Minhag.  In  1892  it  was  published  in  print  from  two  MSS.  at 
London  and  Oxford.  A  ritual,  dated  London,  5047  (1287),  of  which 
many  extracts  are  given  in  the  Jewish  Quarterly  Review  for  October, 
1891,  is  also  instructive  as  to  the  old  state  of  the  German  ritual.  The 
Jews  of  Egypt,  Palestine,  and  Arabia  formerly  had  a  ritual  differing 
from  the  German  and  the  Sefardic;  but  the  authority  of  Maimonides 
during  his  stay  in  Egypt  and  the  inflow  of  Spanish  fugitives  carried 
these  countries  (except  Yemen)  into  the  fold  of  the  Sefardic  ritual. 
In  the  nineteenth  century  a  vast  immigration  from  Poland,  Russia, 
and  Roumania  has  established  synagogues  of  the  German  ritual  in 
Palestine  and  Egypt. 

*Pesahim,  ch.  4,  §§  1-5;  Megilla,  ch.  2,  §  2.  The  phrase,  "all 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,"  is  often  met  with. 

°See  an  account  given  by  Benjamin,  of  Tudela,  quoted  by  Zunz, 
in  his  Gottesdicnstliclic  I'ortrdge.  Ed.  i,  p.  439;  ed.  2,  p.  424. 

"A  peculiar  difference  between  the  Sefardic  and  German  service 
books  has  arisen  since  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  by 
the  labors  of  Wolf  Heidenheim,  who  revised  all  those  of  the  German 
Minhag,  of  all  kinds,  daily,  Festival,  and  Fast,  correcting  the  spelling 
in  both  letters  and  vowels,  and  occasionally  the  grammatical  forms, 
so  as  to  make  the  text  conform  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  Hebrew 
of  the  Bible.  The  Sefardic  books  have  never  undergone  such  a 
revision;  in  fact,  the  greatest  Hebrew  scholar  among  the  Sefardim 


NOTES  373 

of  the  nineteenth  century,  S.  D.  Luzzatto,  objected  to  Heiden- 
heim's  work  as  obscuring  the  history  of  the  Prayer  Book. 

7The  writer  owes  what  he  says  in  this  work  about  Yemen  to 
two  pamphlets  of  Dr.  H.  Barnstein  and  Dr.  W.  H.  Greenburg, 
published  in  1896.  As  to  pronunciation,  the  former  quotes  a  book 
written  by  Jacob  Saphir  (Lyk,  1866,  T3D  p«  )  from  his  own 
knowledge.  The  Yemenites  use  an  over-line  set  of  vowel  signs, 
which  has  long  been  called  the  Babylonian,  but  must,  like  our 
ordinary  under-line  vowel  marks,  have  come  from  Galilee.  For 
the  Babylonians  were  Judeans,  sang  pur,  reading  Hebrew  in 
Sefardic  style,  and  could  not  contrive  a  notation  in  which  the 
same  mark  is  used  for  long  a  and  short  o,  differing  from  those  for 
short  a  and  long  o;  and  this  is  so  in  the  over-line,  just  as  in  the 
under-line  system. 

"Mr.  S.  Schechter  has  written  a  sketch  of  the  life-work  of  Ba'al 
Shem  Tob,  which  has  been  published  with  other  essays  from  his 
scholarly  pen  by  the  Jewish  Publication  Society  (S.  Schechter. 
Studies  in  Judaism.  Philadelphia,  1896).  In  many  towns  of  South- 
ern Russia,  the  Jews  opposed  to  Hasidism  have  also  adopted  the 
half-Sefardic  liturgy  of  the  Hasidim.  One  of  these  opponents  (Mis- 
nagdim)  being  asked  by  the  writer  wherein  they  differed  from  the 
Hasidim,  seeing  they  used  the  same  ritual,  answered:  That  they 
believed  in  the  "Rebby" — the  miracle-working  spiritual  head  of  a 
society  of  Hasidim — while  he  and  his  set  did  not. 


CHAPTER  II 

HISTORIC   BACKGROUND — LIFE-CENTER   IN   PALESTINE 

(Pp.  19-32) 

'Ezra  3:11;  Jer.  33:  11  (with  a  slight  variation). 

2Neh.  8.  Some  critics  hold  that  this  chapter  only  dupli- 
cates a  similar  event  told  in  Ezra  3;  but  if  it  does  (which  it  is 
needless  to  assume),  the  later  date — that  in  Nehemiah — should  be 
preferred  as  the  true  one. 

"Simeon  (or  Simon)  the  Just  is  well  known  to  the  Christian 
world;  his  ministrations  as  High  Priest  are  glowingly  described  at 
the  close  of  Ecclesiasticus  (Ben  Sira).  Only  a  few  hundred  years 
after  his  death  so  little  was  known  of  the  times  between  Ezra  and 
him,  that  he  was  taken  for  a  younger  contemporary  of  the  former. 
This  error  in  chronology,  making  the  time  between  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  and  that  by  Titus  only  490 


374       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

years,  instead  of  658,  appears  first  in  T.  B.  Aboda  Zara,  ga.  The 
late  guess  at  120  as  the  number  of  the  men  (T.  B.  Megilla,  176; 
see  also  T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  2,  §  4)  coupled  with  this  statement, 
making  them  nearly  contemporaries  (see  Bartenoro  on  Aboth,  ch. 
I,  §  i),  is  worthless. 

4T.  B.  Baba  Bathra,  150.  Whenever  and  by  whomsoever  Canti- 
cles was  written,  the  heading.  "Song  of  Songs  which  is  of  Solo- 
mon," must  have  been  by  the  Great  Synod,  or  other  Sages  at 
Jerusalem.  The  heading  has  the  Judaic  "^N ,  while  in  the  poem 
"which"  is  always  expressed  by  the  Galilaic  Iff. 

"Aboth,  ch.  i,  §  2. 

6Berachoth,  ch.  i,  §  i.  "From  what  time  on  do  they  read  the 
Shema  in  the  evening?  From  the  hour  when  the  priests  come  in  to 
eat  their  tribute  (  miin  )."  The  answer  means:  From  the  first 
appearance  of  stars.  Priests,  becoming  defiled,  had,  according  to 
the  law  in  Leviticus,  to  wait  till  "evening"  before  they  could 
become  clean,  and  thus  qualified  to  eat  their  sacred  food.  Custom 
had  established,  that  for  this  purpose  evening  meant  the  appearance 
of  stars,  about  twenty-five  minutes  after  sunset.  So  when  the 
question  as  to  the  reading  oi  the  Shema  was  first  discussed,  it  could 
be  thus  answered  by  referring  to  a  rule  already  well-known. 

7Ecclesiasticus,  written  soon  after  the  death  of  Simeon  the  Just, 
speaks  of  his  time  as  one  of  peace  and  splendor;  of  its  own  time, 
as  beset  by  troubles  and  dangers. 

"Aboth,  ch.  i,  carries  the  tradition  down  from  Simeon  to  Anti- 
gonus  of  Socho,  and  leaving  a  gap,  says  that  Jose  ben  Joezer  and 
Jose  ben  Johanan  received  it  of  them  (i.  e.,  some  disciples  of  Anti- 
gonus).  It  names  as  the  next  couple  Joshua  ben  Perahiah  and 
Nittai  from  Arbela  (near  Babylon) ;  as  the  next,  Judah  ben  Tabbai 
and  Simeon  ben  Shetah  (who  plays  quite  a  part  in  history);  as  the 
next,  Shema'iah  and  Abtalion  (  said  to  have  been  converts) ;  the 
next  are  Hillel  and  Shammai.  The  first  named  in  each  couple 
(JIT)  is  the  Patriarch, literally  Prince  (N'tJO),  or  President  of  the 
Sanhedrin;  the  other,  the  Father  of  the  Court  (j'T  JV3  3N)  or  Vice- 
President.  Menahem  is  named  as  the  first  colleague  of  Hillel;  he 
took  a  political  office  under  King  Herod,  and  made  room  for 
Shammai  (Hagiga,  ch.  2,  §  2).  Maxims  are  ascribed  to  the  bearers 
of  the  tradition  in  Aboth,  ch.  I,  §  i;  little  else  is  known  of  any  of 
them  before  Hillel  and  Shammai',  except  Simeon  ben  Shetah; 
and  few  names  are  found  in  the  Mishna  that  certainly  belong  to 
older  times.  Tanna  (  K3n  )  is  the  noun  of  agent  in  Aramaic,  of  a 
verb  equivalent  to  Hebrew  DJty,  he  did  secondly,  i.  e.,  he  taught 
secondary  learning,  he  taught  Mishna. 


NOTES  375 

"Jadaim,  ch.  3,  §  4.  The  House  of  Shammai  rejected  Ecclesiastes 
(Eduioth,  ch.  5,  §  3,  "Ecclesiastes  does  not  defile  the  hands");  the 
Hillelites  counted  it  in  the  Canon. 

10See  Talmuds  on  Sanhedrin,  ch.  10,  §  i,  for  the  dispute  on  the 
resurrection;  on  retaliation  or  damages  in  money,  see  T.  B.  Baba 
Kamma,  836.  See  also  the  chaffing  between  Pharisee  and  Sad- 
ducee  in  Mishna,  Jada'im,  ch.  4.  As  to  refinements  against  capital 
punishments,  see  inter  alia,  Sanhedrin,  ch.  8,  §§  1-4;  as  to  stoning 
and  burning,  ib.,  ch.  6,  §  3  and  ch.  7,  §  2.  Dr.  Jost,  in  his  Geschichte 
dcs  Judcnthums,  says  that  the  Sadducees  did  not  deny  all  traditions, 
as  they  took  part  with  the  people  in  public  worship;  but  only  those 
which  run  counter  to  the  written  letter.  But  this  was  a  thing  of 
necessity;  cutting  loose  entirely  from  established  usage  is  almost 
impossible.  Dr.  A.  Geiger,  in  his  Urschrift,  seeks  to  trace 
the  warring  sects  back  to  King  David's  reitrn,  deriving  the  name 
of  the  Sadducees  from  his  High  Priest  Zadok,  and  treats  the  two 
sects  as  but  another  form  for  the  old  parties  of  the  hereditary 
priesthood  and  of  the  prophetic  schools;  but  his  view  has  not  been 
generally  received. 

"Horaioth,  ch.  4,  §  8. 

"Sanhedrin,  ch.  2,  §  4,  says:  The  king  commands  in  a  voluntary 
war  decreed  by  the  Council  of  71.  The  number  was  made  up  from 
Numbers  u:  24.  As  to  the  High  Priest,  see  Joma,  ch.  I,  §§  3-6. 

13Matt.  15:  2.  Berachoth,  ch.  8,  gives  disputed  points  on  wash- 
ing for  the  meal;  Jadaim  treats  mainly  of  washing  the  hands.  The 
salt 'custom  is  based  on  Lev.  2:  3.  *7D1J  "he  washes,"  as  applied 
to  the  hands,  is  literally  "he  lifts."  The  hands  are  not  dipped  in 
water;  it  is  poured  on  them. 

"Benedictions  at  hand-washing,  kindling  the  Sabbath,  Festival, 
or  Hanucca  lights,  reading  the  Book  of  Esther,  reading  the  Hallel 
Psalms. 

"Sicarii  in  Latin;  hence |1p'"ip'D(cmp.  Gittin,  ch.  5),  many  of  them 
Gentiles.  Jost,  in  Geschichte  des  Judenthums,  pt.  2,  p.  14,  shows  how 
after  Herod's  death  Rome  placed  all  power  in  the  hands  of  its  tool, 
the  High  Priest.  It  is  said  that  forty  years  before  the  destruction 
the  Sanhedrin  left  the  Hewn-stone  Hall;  the  Shechina  (God's 
Presence)  went  into  exile.  The  Gospels  confirm  this:  there  was  no 
regular  court,  nor  regular  trial  of  Jesus;  only  a  political  discus- 
sion before  the  High  Priest  as  to  the  expediency  of  denouncing 
him  to  the  Romans.  Aboth,  ch.  2,  §  8,  indicates  the  interregnum 
after  Hillel  and  Shammai,  by  calling  Johanan  ben  Zaccai  their 
successor  in  the  traditions,  though  he  opened  his  school  only  after 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 


376       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

18Sota,  ch.  7,  §  5,  where  Agrippa  is  told,  "Thou  art  our  brother." 

"Isa.  9:  6,  7;  n:  1-5;  Micah  5:  2-4;  Zech.  9:  9;  Ps.  2;  Hab.  2:  3. 
The  great  millennial  predictions  are  Isa.  2:  2-4;  Micah  4:  1-4. 

I8This  point  was  made  in  a  later  age;  see  next  chapter. 

l°E.  g.,  Theudas,  mentioned  in  Josephus  and  in  the  Acts. 

'"Much  of  Eduioth  and  Berachoth,  ch.  8,  states  many  points  on 
which  the  schools  divide;  as  to  divorce,  see  Gittin,  ch.  9,  §  10; 
as  to  tithing  cumin,  Eduioth,  ch.  5,  §  3.  Jesus  takes  ground  on 
both  points  against  Hillel.  Hillel's  school  generally  prevailed; 
see  in  Berachoth,  ch.  i,  §  3,  the  reproof  to  R.  Tarfon  for  acting 
against  it.  Sometimes  the  Hillelites  gave  in  to  the  better  reason 
of  the  Shammaites,  as  in  T.  B.  Berachoth,  536:  "If  a  man  leaves 
the  table  forgetting  to  say  grace,  must  he  go  back  to  the  place  of 
his  meal  to  say  it?  Shammai  says  yes,  Hillel  no.  Would  you,  ask 
the  Hillelites,  send  a  man  back  to  the  top  of  a  tower  to  say  grace? 
Would  he  not,  say  the  others,  go  up,  if  he  had  forgotten  a  jewel? 
Thereafter  the  school  of  Hillel  taught  like  that  of  Shammai." 
Shammai's  school  was  generally  the  stricter. 

21T.  B.  Pesahim,  47.  Other  expressions  of  hatred  are  given  on 
like  authority. 

22The  treatise  Dema'i  deals  with  this  mistrust  about  tithing.  In 
T.  B.  Berachoth,  476,  several  Rabbis  give  their  definitions  of  the 
Am  ha-aretz:  (i)  He  who  does  not  eat  profane  food  in  cleanness 
(i-  e.,  who  d'oes  not,  on  Pharisaic  principles,  extend  to  his  daily 
food  the  rules  which  Holy  Writ  lays  down  for  sacrificial  food, 
or  the  Teruma).  (2)  Who  does  not  tithe  rightly.  (3)  Who 
does  not  read  the  Shema  evening  and  morning.  (4)  Who  does 
not  lay  phylacteries.  (5)  Who  has  no  fringes  on  his  garment.  (6) 
Who  has  no  Mezuza  (parchment  copy  of  Deut.  6:  4-9,  and  n: 
13-21)  on  his  door.  (/)  Who  docs  not  bring  up  his  sons  to  the 
study  of  the  Law.  (8)  R.  Meir  says,  even  if  one  studies  Bible 
and  Mishna,  he  is  an  Am  ha-aretz,  unless  he  attends  upon  a  disciple 
of  the  wise.  In  this  passage  it  is  also  conceded  that  a  Samaritan 
may  be  a  companion  (Haber).  See  above,  Note  13. 

"'Ecclus.,  ch.  38.  The  sick  man  should  pray,  the  physician  should 
heal. 

"  njIT  is  the  Hebrew  name. 

"Mishna,  Sanh.,  ch.  10,  §  3.  "The  ten  tribes  will  never  return," 
says  R.  Akiba.  He  is  said  to  have  travelled  to  the  upper  Tigris 
that  he  might  see  the  descendants  of  Shalmaneser's  exiles  for 
himself. 

2"Neither  Roman  nor  Jewish  sources  give  a  clear  and  connected 
account  of  the  rebellion,  or  series  of  rebellions.  They  began  in 


NOTES 


377 


Trajan's  time,  the  hard  fighting  was  against  Hadrian,  and  it  is 
said  that  an  Antoninus  (Pius)  gave  the  Jews  permission  to  bury 
their  dead. 

CTT.  B.  Aboda  Zara,  100,  seems  to  fix  his  time.  He  was  intimate 
with  an  emperor  going  by  the  name  Antonine.  which  must  have 
been  Elagabalus,  as  he  speaks  of  Severus  as  his  son;  Severus  was 
such  by  adoption. 

""The  unnamed  (DHD)  Mishna  is  ascribed  to  R.  Meir.  A  first 
Mishna  and  a  Mishna  of  R.  Akiba  are  mentioned  together  in 
Sanhedrin,  ch.  3,  §  4.  The  Patriarch  is  always  quoted  as  "Rabbi" 
simply:  "R.  Judah"  means  an  earlier  sage,  the  son  of  Il'ai.  The 
treatise  Edui'oth  (testimonies)  looks  like  a  first  attempt  at  a  col- 
lection of  disputed  points. 

29Many  believe  that  "Rabbi"  did  not  write  his  collection,  but  only 
made  his  scholars  learn  it  by  heart,  but  admit  that  two  of  these 
reduced  it  to  writing  within  twenty-five  years  after  his  death.  The 
close  agreement  between  the  Mishna  embodied  in  the  Jerusalem 
and  that  in  the  Babylonian  Talmud  makes  one  think  that  it  was 
all  written  down  under  his  direction.  The  six  orders  are:  (i) 
D">'"iT  (Seeds),  that  is  field-corner,  tithes,  and  other  charges  on 
agriculture,  to  which  is  prefixed  treatise  niD"O  (Benedictions), 
the  most  important  for  our  purpose.  (2)  TpO  (.Set  time)  about 
Sabbath,  Feasts,  and  Fasts.  (3)  D'BO,  (Women),  about  marriage 
laws  and  vows.  (4)  j'D"J  (Damages),  or  civil  and  criminal  law; 
also  two  treatises  of  collected  sayings,  one  of  which,  ni2X  (Fathers), 
is  reprinted  in  the  Prayer  Book.  (5)  D'BHp  (Holy  things),  mainly, 
but  not  wholly,  about  sacrifice.  (6)  nnntD  (Cleanness)  about 
Levitical  purity. 

"Mechilta  on  Exodus,  Sifra  on  Leviticus,  Sifri  (or  Sifre)  on 
Numbers  and  Deuteronomy;  additions  to  any  one  treatise  are 
known  as  Tosifta. 

"'Most  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  orders;  also  about  King  and  High 
Priest,  Sanhedrin,  chs.  2  and  3;  the  latter's  ministrations  on  Atone- 
ment Day,  nearly  all  through  Joma. 

32Sanhedrin,  ch.  10,  §  I. 

"The  Talmud  seldom  doubts  the  authenticity  of  the  Mishna,  but 
Baraitha  is  often  quoted  in  two  or  three  conflicting  forms.  It 
tells  many  fairy  tales  about  R.  Akiba,  R.  Simeon  ben  Johai,  and 
other  early  sages,  foreign  to  the  sober  character  of  these  men,  and 
naturally  attributes  to  them  late  superstitions. 

"Baba  Metzia,  ch.  4,  §  2;  Baraitha  in  T.  B.  on  same,  586; 
Aboth,  ch.  3,  §  ii. 


378       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

34  Civil  law  forms  as  in  Kethuboth,  ch.  4,  §§  8,  10,  and  popular 
saws,  as  Aboth,  ch.  I,  §  13,  are  given  in  pure  Aramaic. 

80Hor.  Sat.  L.  I,  Sat.  9,  v.  63  (trigcsima  Sabbata). 

87Jos.  Ant.  Bk.  20,  ch.  2.  Monobazes,  King  of  Adiabene,  and  his 
mother  Helen  are  mentioned,  Joma,  ch.  3,  §  10.  The  churches 
addressed  by  John  in  Revelations  and  by  Paul  in  his  Epistles  were 
all  made  up  in  part  of  Jews,  or  "converts  of  the  gate,"  i.  e.,  Gentiles 
acknowledging  the  truths  of  Scripture,  but  not  submitting  to  the 
yoke  of  the  Law. 

™  DTD  may  be  good  Hebrew  for  kinds  or  species,  hence  sects; 
j'D,  more  probably  a  contemptuous  shortening  of  j'O&O  believer; 
or  may  come  from  the  root  fXD,  to  refuse,  and  mean  recusants. 

38Berachoth,  ch.  9,  §  5.  "Since  the  Minim  made  mischief,  saying 
there  is  only  one  world,"  could  not  apply  to  Christians. 


CHAPTER  III 

HISTORIC   15 ACKGROUND—  CENTER   NO   LONGER   IN   PALESTINE 

(Pp.  33-43) 

'For  R.  Simlai's  discourse  on  the  613  precepts,  see  T.  B.  Maccoth, 
23,  24.  Jost,  in  his  Geschichte  des  Judenthums,  thinks  that  the  enum- 
eration must  be  older;  but  as  there  is  great  latitude  in  the  way  of 
counting,  this  is  by  no  means  certain.  The  two  masters  of  legend 
are  important,  as  Palestine  hereafter  was  less  the  land  of  dry  legal 
discussion,  than  of  free  exegesis,  parable,  and  legend.  The  two 
last  Geonim,  Sherira  in  the  tenth  century  and  Hal  in  the  eleventh, 
are  the  main  chronologers  of  this  period,  the  former  giving  the 
dates  of  the  Palestinian  and  Babylonian  sages  by  the  Era  of 
Seleucus. 

"E.  g.,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  500,  we  find  the  Resh  Gelutha  well 
versed  in  the  forms  of  after-dinner  grace. 

3The  "two  colleges"  (  xrGTO  )  always  claimed  to  set  the  standard 
for  the  liturgy;  sec  R.  Amram  passim  in  his  Seder,  and  his  quota- 
tions of  his  predecessor,  the  Gaon  Natronai. 

4A  book  of  the  twelfth  century,  called  Kerithoth,  followed  by 
later  historians,  draws  the  chain  of  tradition  in  East  and  West 
from  the  two  Talmuds,  to  the  end  of  X-OD  (opinion). 

BT.  B.  Sanhedrin,  ggb;  but  the  Palestinian  Rabbis  here  quoted 
show  the  same  forgetfulness  or  lack  of  learning.  The  ignorance  of 
Kab  and  Samuel,  botli  men  of  Western  education — T.  B.  Megilla, 
no — about  the  location  of  HD  and  t?D  and  of  Gaza  and  Thap- 


NOTES  379 

sacus,  is  assumed  for  the  sake  of  an  argument.  The  real  ignor- 
ance in  Persian  history,  shown  in  Aboda  Zara,  ga,  which 
puts  the  Temple  under  Persian  dominion  for  only  thirty-two  years, 
the  Rabbis  shared  with  their  Neo-Persian  masters,  who  mixed 
up  the  first  Darab  (Darius)  with  the  last,  who  was  conquered  by 
Alexander.  The  notions  about  medicine,  which  Abbaye,  a  Chief 
Rabbi  of  the  fifth  Babylonian  generation,  holds  and  teaches,  are  very 
crude;  and  the  philology  of  the  Babylonians  is  wild  and  vile;  but 
hardly  worse  than  that  of  Plato  in  his  Kratylos,  or,  considering 
the  times,  than  that  of  Noah  Webster  in  the  dictionary  as  he  wrote 
it.  Astrology  is  gotten  rid  of  by  the  maxim  Stf^'1?  SlO  J'N,  "The 
constellations  have  no  power  over  Israel."  T.  B.  Shabbath,  156^. 

°T.  B.  Berachoth,  t>8b,  and  T.  J.  on  Samuel,  ch.  9,  §  3.  He  made 
this  claim,  because  the  Patriarch  at  Tiberias  pretended  to  have 
some  secret  knowledge  of  astronomy,  enabling  him  alone  to  regu- 
late the  calendar;  though  he  admitted  that  the  orbit  of  comets 
was  beyond  his  powers.  His  wisest  saying  is:  All  the  prophets 
have  prophesied  only  as  far  as  the  Messianic  age;  but  the  future 
world  "no  eye  has  seen,  O  God,  but  thine"  (Isa.  64:  4) ;  i.  e.,  the 
world  beyond  the  grave  transcends  human  conception  (T.  B. 
Berachoth,  346). 

7T.  B.  Sanhedrin,  o8fc,  990. 

8T.  B.  Baba  Metzia,  590,  and  T.  B.  Pesahim,  87;  see  also  T.  B. 
Jebamoth,  62  and  63,  as  to  the  forlorn  condition  of  the  wifeless 
man. 

T.  B.  Sanhedrin,  280,  where  a  criminal  was  sentenced  to  have 
his  eyes  put  out,  and  ib.,  250,  where  we  are  told  that  a  Cohen's 
daughter  was  burnt  for  adultery. 

10T.  B.  Sanhedrin,  99,  iooa.  What  is  the  use  of  the  Rabbis? 
They  cannot  forbid  pigeons,  nor  permit  us  to  eat  ravens. 

"The  Calla  is  best  known  from  the  prayer  JP"N3  Dip" ,  in 
which  the  chiefs  of  the  assembly  are  blessed.  Most  notices 
about  it  come  in  post-Talmudic  times.  In  Succa,  260,  we  read  of 
a  large  crowd  on  the  banks  of  the  Sura  River,  to  attend  the  dis- 
course on  the  Sabbath  of  the  Feast  itself. 

12T.  B.  Pesahim,  56. 

"Both  Biblical  Aramaic  and  that  of  the  Bab.  T.  are  nearer  than 
Syriac  to  the  Hebrew  conjugations;  they  contain  many  Assyro- 
Babylonian  elements,  both  in  roots  and  flexions,  do  not  suppress 
letters  as  freely  as  Syriac,  etc.  and,  of  course,  they  lack  Greek,  and 
contain  Persian  elements. 

14Jost,  in  Geschichte  dcs  Judenthums,  declares  that  everything  as  to 
time,  place,  and  names  of  this  branch  of  the  Masora  (textual  tradi- 


380       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

tion)  is  unknown.  He  points  out  that  the  "Treatise  of  Scribes"  is 
still  silent  on  vowels;  but  no  one  knows  when  that  book  was 
written.  Graetz  and  more  modern  writers  know  no  more.  The 
discovery  of  the  over-line  vowelling  system  has  contributed  noth- 
ing to  solve  the  mystery.  The  identity  of  one  vowel  name  with  the 
Syriac  (Fatah  and  Pethokho)  and  the  aspiration  or  lack  of  aspira- 
tion in  r\"3D  TJD  in  analogy  to  the  'tom  'Ntyip  in  Syriac,  are 
the  only  solid  starting  points,  and  these  only  to  the  place  of 
the  invention,  not  to  the  time.  The  history  of  the  accents,  in  a  later 
century,  is  as  obscure  as  that  of  the  vowels. 

"These  treatises  are  generally  printed  in  editions  of  the  Talmud 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  Order.  For  most  of  what  follows  in  this 
chapter  we  refer  to  the  ordinary  histories  of  the  Jews,  especially 
that  of  Graetz  (History  of  the  Jews.  H.  Graetz.  6  vols.  Am.  Ed. 
Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America.  Philadelphia,  1898).  The 
codes  and  literary  works  named  prove  themselves. 

10Some  modern  prayer  books  of  the  German  ritual,  e.  g.,  that  of 
the  "Rabbi  of  Lissa,"  put  over  every  benediction  the  number  of 
words  contained,  excluding  everything  which  was  not  numbered 
in  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century;  e.  g.,  in  the  Geulla  of  the 
morning  service  the  line  "Rock  of  Israel,  arise,  etc."  Other  books 
simply  put  it  in  brackets.  The  motive  may  have  been  superstitious, 
the  benedictions  being  looked  on  rather  as  charms  and  enchant- 
ments than  as  an  outpouring  of  the  soul;  but  the  result  was  good. 
In  this  way  Cabbalistic  interpolations  were  kept  out  of  the  more 
important  parts  of  the  service. 

17See  article  on  Rosh  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 


CHAPTER  IV 

MIDRASH   AND   AGGADTA 
(Pp.  44-49) 

'Beside  the  works  which  bear  this  title,  among  which  that  upon 
Genesis,  ch.  1-44,  is  the  oldest,  the  Targum,  or  Aramaic  paraphrase, 
ascribed  to  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel,  upon  the  books  of  the  Prophets, 
and  the  very  late  Pseudo-Jonathan  on  the  Pentateuch,  deserve  men- 
tion, and  the  fragmentary  Targum  of  Jerusalem  is  a  treasure  house 
of  "Midrash." 

The  derivation  of  this  word  from  the  verb  Tjn,  to  tell,  has  been 
lately  denied,  but  it  seems  is  clearly  right.  The  learned  W.  Bacher. 
in  the  Jewish  Quarterly  Review  for  April,  1892,  shows  that  this  verb 


381 

in  the  Mishna  is  predicated  of  a  clause  in  Scripture  which  gives  or 
"tells"  something  not  obvious  at  first  sight.    Hence  the  noun   mjn. 

"The  last  three  pages  of  the  T.  B.  on  treatise  Berachoth  are  made 
up  of  such  interpretations.  Sometimes  two  on  the  same  verse  are 
frankly  connected  by  the  words  1HK  ~m  (another  idea),  words  so 
common  in  the  Midrash  as  to  be  abbreviated  X"T. 

'Jadai'm,  ch.  3,  §  4. 

"The  personification  of  the  heavenly  bodies  in  the  benediction 
"»1K  1XV  is  not  Aggadta;  for  the  Psalms  make  Sun,  Moon,  and 
Stars,  and  the  Firmament,  too,  praise  God  (Ps.  19  and  148). 

6T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  8a  and  &b. 

TRosh  Hashana,  ch.  i,  §  2.  On  this  day  all  creatures  pass  before 
God  pio  "J3D,  like  "sons  of  sheep  (?);"  the  word  occurs  no- 
where else.  The  phrase  is  copied  into  the  best  known  of  all  the 
"poetries"  for  the  Festivals.  The  Mishna  proceeds:  "and  on  the 
Feast  (Tabernacles)  the  world  is  judged  as  to  rain." 

"One  bullock  is  sacrificed  on  this  day,  seventy  bullocks  are 
offered  on  the  seven  preceding  days;  the  latter  represent  the  seventy 
nations,  the  former  Israel,  whose  time  will  come  on  that  day;  see 
T.  B.  Succa,  S5&.  In  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  na,  opinions  are 
divided,  whether  the  final  redemption  will  take  place  in  Nisan  or 
in  Tishri.  The  latter  idea  was  the  more  popular,  as  is  shown  by 
the  song  in  the  service  for  the  Joy  of  the  Law:  "The  Scion  will 
come  on  the  Joy  of  the  Law,"  i.  e.,  the  double  of  this  eighth  day. 

"The  passage  in  the  Day  of  Atonement  service  about  the  "ten 
martyrs,"  nOt?0  'JIIH  mt^i',  or  a  dirge  in  the  Sefardic  ser- 
vice for  the  Ninth  of  Ab  on  the  same  subject,  is  probably  the 
oldest  version  of  the  story;  for  the  death  of  four  of  the  ten  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Talmud. 

10Bereshith  Rabba,  ch.  38. 

"T.  B.  Berachoth,  6a. 

"T.  B.  Menahoth,  356. 

13From  the  Hymn  of  Glory  by  Samuel  ben  Kalonymos,  written 
about  1200. 

"T.  J.  on  Pesahim,  ch.  10,  §  i.  The  other  reasons  are:  Pharaoh's 
cups  are  mentioned  four  times  in  the  account  of  the  cup-bearer's 
dream;  the  four  kingdoms,  i.  e.,  the  Babylonian,  Medo-Persian, 
Babylonian,  Roman;  four  times  in  the  Bible  the  enemies  of  Israel 
are  threatened  with  an  evil  cup;  four  times  a  cup  of  joy  or  salvation 
is  mentioned. 

"Will  be  shown  in  the  chapter  on  the  Passover  Night  Service. 

18  jtJm.TJD:  these  are  the  "nouns  of  agent"  of  the  verbs  to 
which  urno  and  mjn  are  the  nouns  of  action.  Many  a  Maggid 


382       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

has  earned  a  reputation  all  over  Poland  and  Hungary  by  his  dis- 
courses. Those  of  the  "Dubnoer  Maggid"  are  in  print,  and  much 
sought  after  by  old-style  preachers  who  cannot  rely  on  their  own 
resources. 

17  Dnip'SK,  as  remarked  in  the  preceding  chapter,  means  an 
infidel;  hence  the  later  Jews  have  formed  the  noun  niD~np'3K 
to  mean  apostasy  or  unbelief. 

18Jehuda  Hallevi,  in  the  Cuzari,  pt.  3,  §  73,  puts  the  Aggadta  in  its 
true  light,  of  an  expression  of  truths  felt  by  the  writers  in  bold 
and  too  graphic  language.  The  undisguised  contradictions,  with 
none  to  reconcile  opposite  views,  or  to  judge  between  them,  were 
well  known  to  the  Talmudic  student;  but  were  not  so  well  known 
to  our  mothers  or  grandmothers,  who  on  every  Sabbath  used  to 
read  the  week's  lesson  in  "the  Deitsch  Chumesh,"  a  paraphrase  in 
jargon,  full  of  the  most  grotesque  specimens  of  Aggadta.  This 
work,  bearing  also  the  high-sounding  Hebrew  name  nj'iOl  ru'NV 
(Go  ye  out  and  see!)  must  be  mentioned  here,  because  its  perusal 
has  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  supplied  with  many  thousands  of 
women  in  Germany  and  in  Eastern  Europe  the  place  of  the 
preacher. 

"The  word  is  4l3'33.  An  example  of  how  the  Talmud  took  the 
bold  narrative  of  Scripture,  is  found  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  I7&, 
concerning  Ex.  34:  5,  etc.  Here  God  is  represented  as  if  he  was 
a  leader  in  prayer  in  his  robes  coming  down  on  Mt.  Sinai  to  teach 
Moses  how  to  recite  the  thirteen  qualities  of  mercy:  "If  the  Tora 
had  not  said  so,  we  would  not  have  dared  it."  The  thirteen  quali- 
ties play  a  great  part  in  the  Atonement  and  Fast  Day  Service,  and 
the  leader  has  to  chant  them.  Or  see  T.  B.  Megilla,  210,  on 
Deut.  5:  28,  where  God  says  to  Moses,  "and  thou  stand  with  me 
here,"  as  if  it  were  possible  to  think  that  God  stands;  and  T.  B. 
Baba  Bathra,  i~a,  on  God's  remark  to  Satan  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Job:  "Thou  hast  persuaded  me,  etc." 


CHAPTER  V 

SECRET   LORE,   OR   CABBALA 

(Pp.  50-56) 

H3D  ,  a  word  found  in  philosophic  as  well  as  in  mystic 
works. 

'The  writer  heard  this  thought  about  the  choice  of  the  word    n*v 
in  Job  38:  6,  from  his  father  V^I. 


NOTES  383 

Si1?;'.  Those  who  personify  wisdom  find  their  authority 
in  Prov.  8:  21,  etc. 

4So  in  the  phrase,  rmrDKn  mip  KIIT1?.  The  word  nruttf  is 
never  thus  personified,  either  in  the  Mishna  or  in  the  old  Prayer 
Book. 

5T.  B.  Sanhedrin,  386.  The  Greek  iiETfiftpoyiis,  "behind  the 
throne,"  is  a  plausible  explanation.  The  late  Dr.  Goldammer, 
of  Cincinnati,  tried  to  derive  the  word  from  a  Coptic  compound, 
met-at-ran,  "endlessness;"  and  there  are  many  other  guesses;  such 
as  nerarbpawtK;  and  Metator. 

"Rashi,  following  older  comments,  on  Gen.  18:  2,  "NIK  1«So  j'N 
rMtTvtP  T\V?  ntyi;'  (one  angel  never  goes  on  two  missions).  For 
namelessness,  see  Gen.  32:  29;  Jud.  13:  6. 

'But  only  Michael,  the  special  protector  of  Israel,  and  Gabriel 
are  named.  Many  more  names  appear  in  the  Talmud;  none  in  the 
Mishna.  Michael,  Gabriel,  and  five  others  are  in  the  later  Cabbala, 
coupled  with  the  seven  days  of  the  week  and  the  seven  planets. 

"Hagiga,  ch.  2,  §  i :  "They  should  not  discourse  on  the  work  of 
creation  to  two  (at  a  time) ;  nor  on  the  chariot  to  even  one,  unless 
he  is  well  prepared  in  wisdom."  Maimonides  ad  locum  believes  that 
by  rODTD  njy.1'3  proof  of  the  existence  of  God,  his  attributes,  the 
nature  of  the  angels,  the  soul,  and  future  life  are  meant.  Bartenoro. 
it  seems  more  correctly,  says  a  learning  was  meant  which  would 
enable  the  adept  to  "make  use  of  the  crown,"  i.  e.,  work  miracles 
by  the  mention  of  divine  names  (mot?  ). 

"T.  B.  Hagiga,  146.  The  context  shows  that  mystic  lore  is 
meant  by  the  D"PD  ,  not  Greek  philosophy,  as  some  moderns 
maintain. 

""Treatise  Megilla,  last  section. 

"T.  B.,  6ob,  commenting  on  Ps.  56:  10. 

"Taken  from  i  Chron.  29:  n  ("Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness, 
etc.").  They  are:  i.  1DH  (nSnj);  2.  rrn3J.  3.  mKSn ;  4-  niTJ  ; 

5.  iin;  6.  mo'  (mnN);  7-  nnSn. 

"(i)  noon;  2.  nr3;  3.  n^n(inj).  See  Prov.  3:  19,  20.  In  the 
later  Cabbala,  the  chain  of  Sephiroth  depends  from  the  ^ID  j'S,  or 
Endless. 

"The  Saxon  poem  by  Caedmon,  written  in  the  ninth  century, 
proves  this. 

"Zunz  puts  the  date  of  the  book  at  about  700  C.  E.,  Laz.  Gold- 
schmidt,  in  the  days  of  the  Maccabees.  Saadia  inferred  from  the 
double  pronunciation  assigned  to  the  letters  man  TJ2 ,  that  the 
book  was  written  in  Galilee;  and  this  consideration  induces  the 


384      JE WISH  SER VICES  IN  S YNA GOGUE  AND  HOME 

writer  to  assign  the  age  of  R.  Akiba  to  it,  Galilee  having  then  be- 
come the  center  of  Jewish  life. 

"Sepher  Jetzira,  ch.  I,  §  5.  The  Sephiroth  here  bear  the  predicate 
HO'1?:),  empty  space,  nothing,  from  Job  26:  7. 

"(i)  P3J  (self);  (2)  nn  (breath, spirit) ;  (3)  rm  (the  living  prin- 
ciple); (4)  nntyj  (soul);  (5)  nrrv(the  only  one). 

'"Forty-nine  stages  of  progress  (  ]'J~n  )  upward,  but  the  fiftieth 
has  not  been  reached;  hence  the  (50)  is  missing  in  the  alphabet  of 
Psalm  145.  The  seventy-two  names  are  formed  from  Ex.  14:  19, 
20,  21. 

"The  mS^'H  are  repeatedly  quoted  in  Abudraham,  where  their 
influence  can  be  traced,  but  mainly  in  compositions  not  now  in  use. 

20Thus,  *\h  is  used  where  the  Targum  has  pnb,  and  the  Talmud 
Babli  has  in1?.  But  the  attempt  to  write  in  the  dialect  of  Galilee  is 
not  fully  carried  out;  often  (e.  g.,  in  opening  upon  Ex.  3:  i)  R. 
Simeon  speaks  in  the  Hebrew  dialect  of  the  Mishna*.  Occasion- 
ally a  word  like  XjlJvJ'N,  plain  Spanish  for  synagogue,  tells  the 
tale.  Edom  and  Ishmael  are  brought  forward  as  great  aggregates 
in  commenting  on  the  verse  in  Deuteronomy,  "ye  are  the  fewest 
among  the  nations."  The  Zohar  is  divided  into  weekly  portions, 
though  Simeon  ben  Johai  as  a  Palestinian  only  knew  the  three-years 
cycle.  The  sages  of  the  Mishna  counted  either  by  the  Era  of  Se- 
leucus  or  by  the  years  of  the  Emperor;  Jadaim,ch.4,  sub  fine;  Gittin, 
ch.  8,  §  5,  where  an  era  from  the  building  and  one  from  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Temple  are  also  named  as  possible,  but  no  Anno 
Mundi.  And  see  for  documentary  proof  of  the  fraud  committed  by 
R.  Moses  de  Leon,  Dr.  A.  Neubauer's  articles  in  the  Jewish  Quar- 
terly Review,  April  and  July,  1892. 

21lt  is  j'OV  p'n;'  and  iOKI  *OK.  The  xmnoo  in  comments  on 
Ex.  14  comes  dangerously  near  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  frequent 
mention  of,  and  great  stress  laid  on  faith  (XHUO'no)  also 
smack  of  Christianity.  In  Comments  on  Gen.  17,  we  find  "the 
anointed  king  (  xn'tsn  fcO^O),  who  is  called  by  God's  name!" 

"Such  are  the  oSj'j  irm  and  the  XJOTirD  K'jn  (The  Secret 
Research  and  The  Faithful  Shepherd),  which  serve  as  a  supple- 
ment to  the  Zohar,  and  are  published  with  it;  also  the  'Jlpfl 
jVBWO  (Expositions  of  "In  the  Beginning"),  seventy  fantastic  com- 
ments on  the  first  word  of  the  Bible. 

a3The   prayer  n'Oty  y"O    will  be  given  in  full  in  its  proper  place. 

24S.  Schechter's  sketch  of  the  life  and  work  of  R.  Israel  "Besht," 
is  the  first  in  a  volume  of  essays  and  reviews  by  him,  issued  by  the 
Jewish  Publication  Society  (S.  Schechter.  Studies  in  Judaism. 
Philadelphia,  1896). 


.\()  TES  385 

20The  use  made  by  Tholuck  and  Jewish  apostates  in  Germany  to 
lure  men  of  Cabbalistic  tendency  over  to  Christianity  has  served 
to  expose  the  poison  lurking  in  the  mystic  lore. 

26Some  reference  to  these  innovations  will  be  made  hereafter. 
Isaac  Luria  gave  the  Halacha  a  spiritual  content.  Lev.  n:  33,  pro- 
vides that  an  earthen  vessel,  when  defiled,  must  be  broken  to  pieces; 
these  are  then  clean,  and  so  is  a  new  vessel  made  of  them.  The 
Talmud  (T.  B.  Baba  Metzia,  59^)  discusses  the  "oven  of  Achnai," 
easily  broken  into  separate  tiles;  when  these  are  joined  again  by 
mortar,  there  is  a  clean  oven.  But  there  remains  the  question,  is 
such  new  oven  "capable  of  uncleanness."  R.  Eliezer  says  yes,  the 
others,  no.  The  Talmud  tells  how  R.  Eliezer  worked  miracles  to 
sustain  his  position;  but  the  others  told  him  coolly  that  miracles 
prove  nothing,  that  only  the  majority  can  interpret  the  Law  in 
disputed  cases.  The  story  is  well  known,  and  the  sentiment  of  the 
majority  highly  approved  without  regard  to  the  question  involved. 
But  Luria  takes  up  the  question:  the  earthen  vessel  is  man;  he 
sins  and  becomes  unclean;  he  is  broken  into  pieces  by  death,  and 
thus  cleansed;  the  fragments  are  put  together  at  the  resurrection. 
Is  the  new  man  capable  of  sinning?  Luria  says  no,  like  the  majority 
which  holds  that  the  reconstructed  oven  is  not  PIKOID 


"Moed  Katan,  ch.  3,  §  9.  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  190,  speaks 
of  the  fast  of  the  seventh  month  (H'Snj  Dli'^  as  "words  of  Cab- 
bala," because  it  was  established  by  Jeremiah,  and  is  mentioned 
by  the  later  Prophets.  So  also  Soferim,  ch.  18,  §  13.  Some  old 
prayers  quote  verses  of  the  Prophets  as  "Cabbala." 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CALENDAR 
(PP-  57-63) 

'Rosh  Hashana,  chs.  I,  2;  esp.  ch.  2,  §  9.  The  principle  that  the 
day  proclaimed  by  the  ruling  authority  is  the  true  Feast  is  drawn 
from  Lev.  23:  4:  "These  are  the  set  .times  of  the  Lord,  etc.,  which 
ye  shall  proclaim,  etc." 

"Hilchoth  Kiddush  Hahodesh,  chs.  6,  7,  8,  9.  The  length  of  the 
"mean"  month  can  be  learned  by  a  glance  at  two  successive  times 
of  Molad  in  a  Jewish  almanac.  That  for  Tishri  5658  is  September 
25,  1897,  at  7  h.  P.M.  50  m.  8  pts.  (i.  e.,  50  m.  26  |  s).  It  is  easy  hence 
to  get  that  of  any  other  month  of  earlier  or  later  date,  by  multiply- 

25 


386       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

ing  29  d.  12  h.  793  pts.  by  the  number  of  intervening  months,  and 
adding  the  result  to  or  subtracting  it  from  the  time  named. 

"The  mean  length  of  the  tropical  year  is  now  thought  to  be 
365  d.  5  h.  48  m.  46y2  s.,  or  of  19  years,  6939  d.  14  h.  26  m.  43y2  s. 
The  Persians  had  a  solar  cycle  of  33  years,  including  8  leap  years, 
which  is  much  nearer  correctness;  but  a  lunar  cycle  would  have 
to  be  much  longer  to  agree  better  than  the  Metonic  with  the  true 
solar  year.  While  the  Mishna  is  full  of  rules  for  fixing  the  new 
moon,  where  the  question  of  only  one  day  could  be  involved,  it 
is  silent  as  to  how  the  Sanhedrin  determined  upon  the  necessity  of 
a  thirteenth  month.  It  was  long  an  open  secret.  There  is  a  story 
(T.  B.  Sanhedrin,  i8a)  fhat  a  month  was  once  intercalated  upon 
the  talk  of  three  cowherds  on  crops  and  weather,  but  it  is  said  there 
that  the  sages  used  this  testimony  only  to  confirm  their  calcula- 
tion. The  rule  about  the  equinox  (HDlpn)  is,  however,  spoken  of 
among  the  earlier  Rabbis:  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  210.  And  ib. 
250  the  mean  length  of  the  synodical  month  is  said  to  have  been 
known  to  Gamaliel  the  Elder  in  the  days  of  the  Temple  (29%  days 
-|  hours  73  pts.) ;  and  it  was  used  to  check  the  testimony  of  wit- 
nesses. The  distinction  between  a  "birth,"  or  astronomic  new 
moon,  before  and  one  after  noontide  is  noticed  ib.  2ob. 

4Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  i,  §  I.    There  are  four  kinds  of  New  Year. 

5Thus  New  Year  5658  was  Monday,  September  27,  1897.  Before 
the  fixed  calendar,  while  the  new  moon  was  proclaimed  upon  sight, 
there  could  be  no  postponement;  hence  Purim  might  be  on  any 
day  of  the  week  (Megilla,  ch.  i,  §  i),  and  the  Ninth  of  Ab  hap- 
pened on  a  Friday  (T.  B.  Erubin,  410). 

°New  moon  played  in  Bible  times  a  great  part;  see  I  Sam.  20:  24; 
2  Kings  4:  23;  Isa.  i:  14.  The  double  new  moon  days  are  nowhere 
distinctly  mentioned  in  the  Talmud.  On  the  contrary,  in  the 
Temple  the  additional  offering  for  the  new  moon  could  not  be 
prepared  until  the  moon  had  been  proclaimed.  Rosh  Hashana, 
ch.  i,  §4. 

7Thc  Fasts  are  enumerated  and  explained  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana, 
i8&. 

8T.  B.,  on  Betza,  ch.  2,  §  i,  is  full  of  the  distinction  between  the 
two  days  of  New  Year,  which  arc  likened  to  "one  long  day,"  and 
the  "two  holidays  of  exile"  in  the  other  Feasts. 

'•'See  Note  20  to  preceding  chapter  as  to  eras  and  modes  of  dating 
in  earlier  use. 

'"Dr.  II.  Barnstein's  pamphlet  already  cited.  The  writer  has 
seen  a  Yemen  tombstone  with  the  nnoiy  7010  at  the  British 
Museum. 


NOTES  387 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  SYNAGOGUE  AND  ITS   FUNCTIONARIES 
(Pp.  64-71) 

'The  Code  of  R.  Joseph  Karo  (see  Orah  Hayim,  §§150-155)  does 
not  expressly  require  the  placing  of  the  platform  in  the  middle. 
The  custom  on  certain  days  of  carrying  the  scrolls  around  it  seems 
to  presuppose  such  a  situation.  Maimonides  (Hilchoth  Tefilla, 
ch.  9,  §  i)  speaks  of  the  leader  in  the  services  as  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  people,  all  of  whom  sit.  This  is  according  to  the 
Sefardic  custom  by  which  the  services  as  well  as  the  lessons  are 
read  from  the  platform. 

2See  the  chapters  on  the  Pentateuch  Lessons. 

3See  the  chapters  on  Prayer,  or  Amida.  The  Sefardim  justify  their 
custom  of  reading  the  prayers  from  the  reading  desk  by  calling  it 
Teba. 

4Jadaim,  ch.  4,  §  5;  only  books  thus  written  are  holy.  The 
Assyrian  ("ilt&'X)  or  square  letter  is  that  now  in  use;  the  Hebrew 
("Oj')  character,  much  like  the  Samaritan,  Phoenician,  and  oldest 
Greek,  is  found  on  Jewish  coins  and  old  inscriptions,  while  the 
other  was  as  yet  used  only  for  sacred  writings.  The  "Assyrian" 
forms  were  worked  out  to  the  smallest  detail;  the  "tittle  of  a  jot," 
spoken  of  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  is  a  slight  down  stroke  on 
the  left  side  of  the  /,  neglected  in  printed  type,  but  carefully  made 
in  the  Scrolls.  The  opinion  of  some  of  the  old  Sages  that  the 
Assyrian  letter  was  as  old  as  Moses,  that  it  was  then  disused,  but 
was  restored  by  Ezra,  is  untenable.  The  "Hebrew"  is  clearly  the 
oldest  form.  See  the  discussion,  T.  B.  Sanhedrin,  210;  T.  J.,  on 
Megilla,  ch.  i,  §  5. 

"See  in  Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  3,  distinct  words  for  the  responsive  read- 
ing, and  for  "going  down  before  the  Ark."  Cmp.  Note  I  above,  as 
to  Sefardic  custom. 

The  separate  placing  of  the  women  dates  back  to  the  D'tson  mij,* 
(gallery  of  women)  in  the  Temple  Yard;  its  dimensions  are  stated, 
Middoth,  ch.  2,  §  5. 

T.  J.,  on  Megilla,  ch.  3,  §  i.    See  Bk.  IV,  ch.  I. 

8They  also  say  prayers  in  the  House  of  Study.  The  Talmud 
deems  it  a  more  sacred  place  than  the  Synagogue  itself.  T.  B. 
Berachoth,  30;  Pea,  ch.  i,  §  i,  and  see  the  decided  position  taken 
in  Hilchoth  Tefilla,  ch.  11,  §  14. 

'Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  3,  and  T.  B.  thereon.    See  also  T.  B.  Berachoth, 


388       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

2ib.  The  "Treatise  of  Scribes"  (Soferim,  ch.  10,  §  7)  speaks  of  a 
custom,  which  at  its  date  prevailed  in  Palestine,  of  holding  services 
with  only  seven  men  present. 

10The  analogy  of  two  men  and  a  small  boy  beginning  grace  after 
meal  responsively  is  found,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  480.  Orah  Hayim, 
§  54  and  §  4,  says  the  best  casuists  (D'pD13  )  are  opposed,  but  R. 
Moses  Isserles  thinks  it  might  be  done  in  an  emergency.  Of 
course,  it  is  always  an  emergency.  The  first  discussion  of  the  nine 
men  and  one  child  is  found  in  T.  J.,  on  Berachoth,  ch.  7,  §  2. 

"Three,  or  by  another  opinion,  five  ordained  sages  (Sanhedrin, 
cn-  !>  §  3)  were  needed  to  ordain  by  laying  on  hands.  An  ordained 
elder,  when  solving  a  religious  scruple,  took  the  sin  upon  himself 
alone;  but  only  when  he  interpreted  the  law  contrary  to  the 
Halacha.  Where  he  denies  or  falsifies  the  plain  written  law  (as 
where  he  says  there  is  no  Sabbath,  or  five  instead  of  four  para- 
graphs go  into  the  phylacteries),  he  is  not  punishable  for  the 
false  decision  (Horaioth,  ch.  i,  §§  3,  4),  for  every  Israelite  is  sup- 
posed to  know  the  plain  letter  of  the  written  law,  and  has  no 
business  to  listen  to  its  denial  by  any  Rabbi  or  Sanhedrin.  Ordi- 
nation was  valid  only  in  the  Holy  Land.  Its  substitute,  the  written 
certificate,  known  as  Hattarath  Horaa,  is  rather  modern. 

"Maimonides,  Hilchoth  Tefilla,  ch.  8,  §  n,  insists  that  the 
"Messenger  of  the  congregation"  should  be  the  foremost  in  "learn- 
ing and  works,"  but  adds  he  should  have  a  pleasant  voice. 

"Orah  Hayim,  §  55,  sub.  12;  but  "sinners"  may  be  counted;  even 
it  seems  those  who  openly  (X"Dm23)  profane  the  Sabbath;  though 
the  Talmud  says  of  these,  that  their  wine  is  deemed  that  of  idola- 
trous drink  offering,  and  their  meat  the  same  as  pork. 

"The  jin  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  learned  class,  but  of 
a  lower  degree  than  the  Scribes,  and  these  were  below  the  Sages; 
see  Sota,  ch.  9,  app.  to  last  section. 

"T.  B.  Megilla,  220:  "One  who  does  it  without  pay."  Orah 
Hayim,  §  53,  sub.  22,  prefers  a  paid  leader  to  an  amateur. 

'"Soferim,  ch.  14,  §  14.  This  usage  runs  back  to  Nehemiah  8. 
The  Cabbai  is  still  Treasurer  or  Financial  Secretary  in  most  old- 
fashioned  congregations. 


NOTES  389 


BOOK  II 

THE  DEVOTIONS  OF  THE  SYNAGOGUE 
CHAPTER  I 

OUTLINE   OF   THE   LITURGY 

(Pp.  75-8i) 

'The  treatise  Berachoth  of  the  Mishna  speaks  throughout  of  the 
devotions  as  of  a  daily  duty;  of  public  worship  as  of  a  privilege  to 
be  prized  when  it  can  be  had  (because  public  prayer  is  always 
heard  and  answered.  T.  B.  on  same,  6a).  Only  as  to  the  "addi- 
tional," or  Musaf  prayer,  the  opinion  is  expressed  by  some,  that 
it  need  be  spoken  only  TJ?  "OHD,  "in  town  society,"  i.  e.,  where 
people  meet  for  public  worship.  Ibid.,  ch.  4,  §  7. 

2The  standards,  old  and  new,  know  no  -other  name  than  n^SH. 
The  word  Amida  seems  to  be  drawn  from  a  stray  remark,  T.  B. 
Berachoth,  26b:  "Amida  (standing)  means  prayer." 

'Berachoth,  ch.  i,  §  5;  see  the  chapter  on  the  service  for  the 
Passover  night.  As  to  Rabbi,  see  T.  B.  Berachoth,  136,  where  later 
teachers  assent  to  the  position  that  the  first  verse  satisfies  the  Law. 

4Berachoth,  ch.  4,  §  3:  "Why  does  it  say,  when  thou  liest  down, 
when  thou  risest;  it  means  when  men  generally  lie  down,  or  gener- 
ally rise."  Ibid.,  ch.  4,  §  i,  gives  the  limits  for  the  evening  reading, 
and  here  Rabban  Gamaliel  remarks,  that  the  Shema  may  really  be 
read  till  the  morning  dawns,  and  that  midnight  was  only  named 
as  a  precaution  to  keep  man  from  sin;  §  2  gives  the  limits  for  the 
morning:  "When  you  can  distinguish  between  the  blue  and  white 
threads,  till  9  A.  M.  ('three  hours');  for  at  that  time  princes  get  up." 
The  ancients  had  sun  dials,  which  would  show  9  A.M.  at  the  same 
figure  the  year  around;  but  the  accepted  interpretation  of  "three 
hours"  is  the  first  quarter  of  the  day,  which  on  a  long  summer  day 
is  earlier,  on  a  winter  day,  later  than  9  A.M. 

"If  one  "reads"  after  9  A.M.,  he  "loses  nothing;"  ib.,  §  2,  which 
T.  B.  Berachoth,  lob,  explains  as  in  text.  And  at  the  Synagogue 
the  evening  service  may  be  read  within  i%  hours  before  night-fall. 
The  exception  of  the  Saturday  night  service  is  natural;  it  is  unlaw- 
ful to  shorten  the  Sabbath. 


390      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

6On  the  Sabbath  it  is  made  up  of  seven  benedictions;  on  work- 
days, of  nineteen,  formerly  eighteen. 

'Jer.  T.,  on  Berachoth,  ch.  4,  §  I,  relying  on  Deut.  n:  13,  fol- 
lowed by  Maimonides  and  later  codifiers. 

"Abudraham,  in  the  chapter  on  work-day  morning  service,  T.  B. 
Megilla,  176,  :8a.  A  very  widely  known  Midrash,  T.  B.  Bera- 
choth, 6b,  ascribes  the  morning  Prayer  to  Abraham,  the  afternoon 
Prayer  to  Isaac,  the  night  Prayer  to  Jacob. 

"See  Dan.  6:  10,  where  Daniel  braves  the  decree  of  Darius,  which 
threatens  death  to  him  who  prays.  In  T.  B.  Berachoth,  260  and 
26b,  it  is  held  that  one  who  by  accident  or  forgetfulness  has  missed 
one  Prayer  should  recite  the  next  one  twice. 

10In  T.  B.,  ib.,  276,  we  read  of  a  violent  dispute  between  R. 
Gamaliel  and  R.  Joshua,  in  the  second  century,  over  the  question: 
Is  the  evening  Prayer  obligatory  or  optional?  The  Babylonian 
teachers  of  the  fourth  century  are  not  yet  agreed  who  was  in  the 
right.  Bartenoro,  in  commenting  on  ch.  4,  §  I,  of  the  Mishna 
concludes,  that  in  the  dispute  those  holding  it  to  be  optional  were 
right,  but  that  later  generations  have  assumed  the  evening  Prayer 
as  a  duty. 

UR.  Gamaliel  and  his  contemporaries  discuss  this  about  the  year 
100  at  Jabneh;  see  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  346,  350,  the  usage  being 
then  fully  established. 

12The  name  j'SDIon  fi^Sn  is  used  in  the  treatise  Berachoth;  in 
Rosh  Hashana,  the  person  who  leads  in  the  morning  Prayer  is 
simply  called  "the  first,"  he  who  leads  in  Musaf,  "the  second." 

"Abraham  and  Moses  always  "rose  early"  to  fulfill  a  divine  com- 
mand; hence  the  rule.  In  one  passage,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  2&b,  it 
is  suggested  that  nothing  should  be  eaten  before  Musaf,  but  this 
view  has  not  prevailed. 

"Taanith,  ch.  4,  §  I. 

"T.  B.  Berachoth,  30^. 

10Ib.,  4&.  The  Psalm  tells  of  God's  care  for  his  creatures  ("Thou 
opcnest  thy  hand  and  satisfies!  the  desire  of  all  th:it  live"),  and 
is  moreover  alphabetic. 

"Ib.,  same  page. 

"Abudraham,  pp.  81  and  83  of  the  Warsaw  edition. 

"For  the  distinction  between  rmo>'0  and  fasts  for  rain,  sec 
Taanith,  ch.  4.  §  i.  A  volume  of  Selihoth  was  printed  in  Jerusalem 
A.  M.  5656  (1895-6)  containing  among  others  those  for  fasts  on 
account  of  drought,  which  indicates  that  in  Palestine  these  fasts 
must  have  been  kept  within  living  memory. 


NOTKS  391 


CHAPTER  II 

SOURCE  AND   STYLE 
(Pp.  82-88) 

'Exceptions  are  found  in  the  prayer  on  going  to  bed  and  a  few 
other  passages  which  are  never  read  aloud. 

"The  "Omnipresent"  has  been  suggested,  and  will  do  by  way  of 
translation,  but  it  is  not  the  true  meaning.  '  Another  idea  is  that 
Dlpon,  meaning  a  consecrated  place,  was  transferred  to  the  Divinity 
worshipped  in  that  place. 

•''O'm^N  pmbx  n^N  DD&O,  "In  the  name  of  God,  the  merciful, 
the  loving!"  T.  B.  Berachoth,  400,  fcO^m  is  expressly  recognized 
as  a  name  of  God,  fulfilling  the  need  of  a  benediction  for  such  a 
name. 

4Joma,  ch.  4,  §  2;  Sota,  ch.  7,  §  6;  T.  B.,  ib.,  390.  It  is  intimated 
here  that  after  Simeon  the  Just  died,  the  priests  no  longer  blessed 
"with  the  Name"  in  the  country;  the  High  Priest  used  it  ten 
times  on  the  great  Fast.  Sanhedrin,  ch.  10,  §  i,  denounces  the 
"thinking"  of  the  Name. 

"Berachoth,  ch.  9,  §  4. 

'T.  B.  Berachoth,  406,  460,  490;  T.  B.  Pesahim,  104. 

'Great  numbers  of  these  short  blessings  are  found  in  the  Mishna 
treatise  Berachoth,  ch.  9,  and  more  in  the  Talmud  upon  that 
chapter. 

8T.  B.  Berachoth,  330. 

"One  will  be  found  in  the  evening  service;  one  in  the  earliest  part 
of  the  morning  service. 

"Generally  a  petition  that  the  performance  of  some  ceremonial 
duty  may  have  its  full  effect. 

"Several  prayers  for  the  Day  of  Atonement  are  thus  indicated, 
T.  B.  Joma,  876.  The  composition  now  known  as  roiPJ,  or  part 
of  it,  is  spoken  of  in  Pesahim,  ch.  10,  §  7,  as  "VETI  ro~O  (Benedic- 
tion of  the  Song),  and  T.  B.  Berachoth,  5gb,  it  is  denoted  by  words 
now  in  the  middle,  which  then  may  have  been  at  its  beginning. 

"Will  be  given  hereafter  among  the  benedictions  at  rising. 


392       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   SHEMA   IN   THE   EVENING 
(Pp.  89-94) 

'Berachoth,  ch.  i,  §  4. 

2Abudraham  protests  against  these  words  as  out  of  place  at  the 
close  of  the  benediction;  they  are,  however,  found  in  the  Seder  R. 
Amram,  as  printed. 

3Joma,  ch.  3,  §  8,  and  ch.  4,  §  i,  after  hearing  the  Name.  It  was 
inserted  after  "Hear,  O  Israel,"  according  to  T.  B.  Pesahim,  560,  in 
honor  of  the  patriarch  Jacob. 

4We  are  told,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  146,  that  in  Talmudic  times 
many  in  the  West  (Palestine)  said  only  the  first  and  last  verses  of 
this  section  in  the  evening;  but,  for  over  1,400  years,  all  who  read 
the  Shema  have  recited  the  whole  third  section  in  the  evening  as 
well  as  in  the  morning. 

5To  run  the  last  words,  "The  Lord  your  God,"  together  with 
"True"  in  the  benediction  is  an  old  custom,  attested  by  the 
Talmud  (ibid.,  146),  and  resting  on  none  but  devotional  grounds. 
But  that  the  leader  should  finish  the  section,  and  then  give  out 
the  three  words,  is  a  late  invention  of  the  Cabbalists,  or  at  least  of 
those  believing  in  the  power  of  numbers.  The  three  sections,  with 
the  second  line  (Blessed  be,  etc.)  added,  contain  245  words;  three 
are  added  to  make  248,  the  number  of  bones  in  the  human  body 
or  of  the  affirmative  commands  in  the  Pentateuch.  Hence,  for 
private  worship,  the  three  words  pNJ  "j^rD  bx  (God,  faithful  King) 
are  placed  before  the  first  verse  to  make  up  the  desired  number. 
Abudraham  reproves  the  use  of  these  words  on  two  grounds: 
first,  we  must  not  say  anything  that  interrupts  the  reading  of  the 
Shcma;  secondly,  a  name  of  God  cannot  be  used  simply  to  fill  out 
a  number  of  words. 

0  i'laXrequires  payment),  D'DJ  (wonders), niin (liberty) — all  from 
Hebrew  roots. 

TT.  B.  Berachoth,  14^,  and  see  notes  to  next  chapter. 

8T.  B.  Berachoth,  46,  gives  the  opening  word  1JTDt?n  »  (Let  us 
lie  clown).  The  distinction  made  in  the  close  of  the  benediction 
between  work-days  and  Sabbath  is  mentioned  in  Seder  R.  Amram 
ad  locum  as  not  fully  established;  but  the  Gaon  decides  for  the 
special  wording  on  the  Sabbath. 


NOTES  393 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   SHEMA   IN   THE   MORNING 
(PP-  95-104) 

'Ziinz,  in  his  Gottesdienstliche  Vortrdge,  working  on  suggestions  of 
Rapoport  of  Prague,  is  the  authority  for  the  proposition  that  these 
forty-five  words  are  the  nucleus  of  the  benediction. 

'Succa,  ch.  5,  §  4. 

"The  frequent  use  of  the  name  Epikuros  in  the  Mishna  to  desig- 
nate an  infidel  proves  that  the  Jewish  Sages  were  well  aware  of 
another  danger  to  Judaism  besides  idol  worship.  Josephus  tries  to 
identify  the  Sadducees  with  the  Epicurean  school. 

4T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  5,  §  4. 

"A  visible  effort  to  keep  apart  the  days  of  the  Messiah  and  the 
future  world;  see  the  great  maxim  of  Samuel,  T.  B.  Berachoth, 
34&- 

"The  language  of  this  is  drawn  in  great  part  from  T.  B.  Hagiga, 
130.  In  the  later  poetry  of  Eleazar  Kalir,  the  "Chariot"  and  the 
Holy  Beasts  are  much  more  fully  described  upon  the  same 
authority. 

7R.  Moses  Isserles  speaks  of  this  piece  (Orah  Hayim,  §  282)  as 
one  of  the  hymns  (Zemiroth)  of  Sabbath,  which  the  leader  cannot 
be  allowed  to  omit.  It  has  on  late  and  unreliable  authority  been 
ascribed  to  the  Gaon  R.  Natrona'i  (ninth  century).  Abudraham 
and  the  Mahzor  Vitry  give  all  the  insertions  for  Sabbath  as  undis- 
puted. 

"The  opening  words  H31  H3DX  are  mentioned  in  T.  B.  Bera- 
choth, lib,  where,  however,  the  majority  prefer  D"?U'  ronx,  which 
we  now  say  in  the  evening;  it  is  indicated  by  Jer.  31:  3.  The 
Talmud,  in  speaking  of  the  initial  words,  probably  meant  compo- 
sitions already  in  vogue  beginning  with  these  words.  There  is 
hardly  any  but  intrinsic  evidence  for  determining  how  much  of  the 
form  now  in  use  (say  the  German  form,  as  the  shorter  of  the  two) 
is  the  oldest  kernel. 

"See  Note  8  to  Ch. Ill;  also  for  the  opening  words,  Berachoth,  ch. 
2,  §  2;  as  to  the  propriety  (not  necessity)  of  mentioning  the  plague 
of  the  first-born  and  the  parting  of  the  sea  in  this  benediction,  see 
Shemoth  Rabba,  ch.  22.  "To  the  living  and  everlasting  King," 
see  T.  B.  Hagiga,  130.  "He  has  redeemed  Israel,"  is  given  in 
T.  B.  Pesahim,  ii7&,  as  the  proper  close  of  the  Geulla;  especially 
for  a  benediction  on  Passover  night. 


394      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

10Sce  rebuke  for  piling  up  attributes,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  336. 

"See  David  Kaufmann's  account  of  the  London  Prayer  Book  of 
1287,  in  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  4,  p.  20,  and  compare  end  of 
Bk.  I,  ch.  III. 


CHAPTER  V 

RESPONSES — THE   KADDISH 

(Pp.  105-111) 

'Hcrachoth,  ch.  8,  §  8. 

=lb.,  ch.  9,  §  9,  and  T.  J.  on  same. 

3Sifre  on  Deut.  32:  3. 

'Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  3. 

This  form  is  given  in  Berachoth,  ch.  7,  §  4. 

"Aboth,  ch.  3,  §  6,  quoting,  "God  stands  in  the  Congregation, 
etc.,  from  Ps.  82:  i,  and  more  distinctly,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  6a. 

7T.  B.  Berachoth,  30  and  2\b;  Succa,  390;  Shabbath,  ngb.  In 
the  last-named  passage  some  Rabbis,  noted  for  their  bold  homi- 
Ictics,  promise  to  those  who  respond,  "Amen,  be  the  great  name" 
heartily,  that  any  hard  sentence  against  them  will  be  torn  up, 
though  there  be  a  taint  of  idolatry  on  them,  and  through  a  pun  on 
Isa.  26:  2,  that  the  gates  of  Paradise  will  be  opened  to  them:  Do 
not  read  D'JIEK  noiiy  (who  keep  faith),  but  D'jr;K  noiKt?  (they  who 
say  Amen).  It  is  still  a  far  way  from  those  who  make  this  re- 
sponse to  the  parents  of  him  who  calls  for  it.  But  at  least  the  first 
two  sentences  of  the  Kaddish  are  very  old. 

"The  Seder  R.  Amram  and  the  Mahzor  Vitry  contain  all  the 
forms  of  the  Kaddish,  but  as  neither  as  now  printed  is  anything 
like  its  original  draft,  the  former  containing  additions  younger  by 
three  or  four  hundred  years,  the  latter,  dated  in  1208,  quoting  from 
the  Zohar,  published  about  1275,  but  little  historical  light  is  thrown 
on  the  time  when  the  Mourners'  Kaddish  (i.  e.,  the  aggregate  of 
paragraphs  i,  2,  4,  5)  was  first  used.  Moreover,  the  Mahzor  even  in 
its  enlarged  edition  is  quite  guiltless  of  the  modern  effort  to  multiply 
opportunities  for  "saying  Kaddish."  Thus  in  its  account  of  the  even- 
ing service,  the  leader  right  after  the  Amida  says  the  full  Kaddish, 
whereupon  "the  people  go  home  in  peace."  Maimonides,  in  Hil- 
choth  Tefilla,  ch.  9,  §§  12-14,  goes  through  the  service  for  week- 
days, Sabbaths,  etc.,  stating  where  a  Kaddish  comes  in,  but  leaves 
out  all  those  now  allotted  to  mourners.  R.  Moses  Isserles,  in  his 
note  on  Jore  De'a,  §  376  (Rules  of  Mourning),  speaks  of  the  habit 
of  mourners  to  recite  a  Kaddish,  but  reproves  it,  unless  they  are 


NOTES 


395 


little  children;  otherwise,  if  they  want  to  honor  their  dead  parents, 
let  them  read  the  service  or  at  least  a  part  of  it. 

"Mahzor  Vitry,  p.  74:  "The  lad,  etc.;"  p.  112,  the  legend.  This 
is  also  printed  in  the  devotional  books  Menorath  Hammaor  and 
Or  Zarua,  and  is  credited  by  these  to  two  older  works,  Midrash 
Tanhuma  and  the  Treatise  Calla,  which  do  not  contain  it.  N.  B. — 
The  writer  fully  agrees  with  Dr.  K.  Kohler  (Jewish  Quarterly 
Review,  VII,  p.  606)  in  the  belief,  that  the  Kaddish  is  thoroughly 
Jewish  and  not  borrowed;  but  is  not  so  sure,  that  its  needless  repe- 
tition by  mourners,  beyond  the  j'tynp  in  the  old  liturgy,  is  a  home- 
grown institution. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CONSTANT  PARTS  OF  THE  TEFILLA 

(Pp.  112-120) 

'The  names  of  I.  II,  III  and  of  V,  VI,  VII,  as  given  in  this 
chapter,  together  with  the  intervening  IV  for  Sabbaths  and  Festi- 
vals, are  found  in  Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  4,  §  5. 

2So  Abudraham,  who  takes  the  verb  as  covering  all  tenses:  he 
brought  us  a  redeemer  from  Egypt;  he  delivers  us  now,  and  will 
send  us  a  redeemer  hereafter. 

8So  Abudraham  and  other  commentators.  Israel,  he  says,  is 
commanded:  Be  ye  holy. 

4There  is  a  very  improbable  story,  that  the  two  extra  responses, 
which  are  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  Shema,  were  introduced 
during  a  persecution  of  the  Jews,  when  they  were  forbidden  to 
recite  the  Shema  in  public. 

''From  Abudraham's  comparison  of  this  "iro  with  the  language 
of  the  book  Hechaloth,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  Cabbalistic 
origin  and  purpose. 

"Rashi  on  T.  B.  Berachoth,  lib,  doubts  whether  the  benediction 
when  said  in  the  Temple  after  the  daily  sacrifice  closed  with  these 
words,  or:  "Who  receivest  the  service  of  his  people  Israel  with 
favor."  At  all  events,  the  conclusion  must  have  included  the  word 
Aboda,  or  its  verbal  root. 

7T.  B.,  R>osh  Hashana  310  and  316,  gives  the  ten  migrations  of 
the  Sanhedrin  from  that  chamber  till  it  rested  at  Tiberias,  where  it 
reached  its  lowest  point,  that  is,  less  jurisdiction  than  ever  before; 
and  gives  this  as  a  parallel  to  the  receding  of  the  Shcchina. 

"As  the  servant  acknowledging  his  master  should  not  rely  on  a 


396       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

messenger  to  carry  his  message,  a  Modim  has  been  drawn  up  by 
many  Rabbis,  hence  called  |:3~n  (T.  B.  Sota,  40,  also  T.  J.  on 
Berachoth,  ch.  i,  §  8),  which  the  people  read  silently,  while  the 
leader  proceeds  to  repeat  the  benediction:  "We  acknowledge  to 
thee,  that  thou,  O  Lord,  art  our  God  and  the  God  of  our  fathers, 
God  of  all  flesh,  our  Maker,  the  Maker  in  the  beginning.  Blessings 
and  thanks  to  thy  great  and  holy  name,  for  that  thou  hast  kept  us 
alive  and  in  health;  thus  keep  us  further  alive  and  in  health,  and 
gather  our  exiles  to  thy  holy  court-yards,  to  observe  thy  ordi- 
nances and  to  do  thy  will  and  to  serve  thee  with  a  full  heart.  For 
all  which  we  thank  thee;  blessed  be  the  God  of  Thanks." 

*pyi  TT  p,  not  Amen;  the  latter  response  is  made  only  when 
the  priests  give  the  blessing.  Qu.  Is  not  this  response  the  origin 
of  the  Masonic  "So  mote  it  be?" 

10The  West  Germans  use  the  longer  form  on  Sabbath  afternoons 
in  the  repetition  by  the  leader,  not,  however,  in  the  silent  Prayer. 
The  Hasidim  have  it  generally  for  Minha,  but  not  in  the  night 
service. 

"T.  B.  Megilla,  180,  derives  the  fuller  form  (literally,  "Put  Peace") 
from  the  verse,  "They  shall  put  my  name,  etc.,"  which  follows  the 
priestly  blessing;  the  shorter  form  is  nowhere  found  in  the  Talmud. 

"The  High  Priest  recited  V  and  VI  on  the  Day  of  Atonement; 
Joma,  ch.  7,  §  i;  the  second  in  the  priesthood  (njlOOH)  caused 
V  and  VII  to  be  recited  every  morning;  Tamid,  ch.  5,  §  i;  VII  was 
always  preceded  by  the  priestly  blessing  itself. 

J3T.  B.  Berachoth,  4^. 

34Mahzor  Vitry  and  Abudraham  both  give  this  verse,  at  which 
the  worshipper  is  to  "separate  his  feet"  and  step  back,  as  the 
Talmud  intimates  a  man  does  after  prayer. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MODIFICATIONS  OF  THE  CONSTANT  PARTS 

(Pp.  121-127) 

'The  "Holy  King"  on  these  days  is  deemed  indispensable,  T.  B. 
Berachoth,  I2b.  The  insertions  in  I,  II,  VI,  and  VII  all  ask  God 
to  remember  or  inscribe.  The  first  mention  of  "remembrances" 
in  the  "first  three  and  last  three"  is  found  in  Treatise  Soferim,  ch. 
19,  §  8  (say  seventh  century),  where  the  lawfulness  of  the  inser- 
tions is  grudgingly  granted  for  the  Days  of  Memorial  and  Atone- 
ment. Maimonides  speaks  of  them  as  in  use  in  his  time.  Abudra- 


NOTES 


397 


ham,  while  giving  them  as  in  use,  still  protests  against  one  praying 
for  his  needs  in  these  benedictions  (ib.,  346).  This  restriction  was 
never  respected  by  the  French  and  German  Jews.  Mahzor  Vitry,  p. 
366,  gives  )J"OT,  and  comments  on  it. 

2See  Mahzor  Vitry,  p.  394. 

'According  to  a  response  of  R.  Hai,  the  last  Gaon,  Sha'are 
Teshuba,  No.  297,  the  paragraphs  |D31  were  written  by  Rab,  the 
author  of  many  parts  of  the  New  Year's  Prayer,  and  there  should 
be  no  more  than  three  of  them.  However,  in  the  repetition  of 
Musaf  on  New  Year  and  of  all  the  Atonement  Prayers,  the 
leader  adds  in  the  German  Minhag  another  before  these  three,  viz.: 
"And  then  be  thy  name,  O  Lord  our  God,  hallowed  upon  Israel 
thy  people,  and  Jerusalem  thy  city,  and  Zion  the  dwelling  of  thy 
glory,  and  upon  the  Kingdom  of  the  House  of  David  thy  anointed, 
and  upon  thy  place,  and  on  thy  Temple." 

'Perhaps  this  should  have  been  treated  as  one  .of  the  late 
"poetries." 

8Berachoth,  ch.  5,  §  2,  gives  the  place  in  the  Prayer;  Taanith,  ch. 
I,  §  I,  the  day  to  begin  and  the  very  words.  The  solemn  words 
on  the  first  day  of  rain  or  dew  are  later  than  the  Talmud  and 
different  in  the  two  rituals. 

"Betza,  170  (a  Baraitha),  decides  in  favor  of  "Service"  as  the 
proper  place  in  which  to  insert;  so  does  Tosifta  to  Berachoth,  ch. 
3,  and  Shabbath,  240.  The  words  are  not  given  in  either  place. 

7See  T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  7,  §  5  (4),  and  comp.  with  same  on 
same,  §  6  (5). 

8In  Palestine  daily  blessings  are  still  in  use.  T.  B.  Sota,  396, 
has  the  following  prayer  for  the  priest  after  the  blessing:  "Be  it 
thy  will,  etc.,  that  this  blessing  with  which  thou  hast  commanded  us 
to  bless  thy  people  Israel,  be  a  perfect  blessing,  free  from  every 
stumbling  block  or  iniquity,  from  now  and  for  evermore." 
Maimonides  inserts  it,  Hilchoth  Tefilla,  ch.  15. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   WORK-DAY   BENEDICTIONS 
(Pp.  128-139) 

'Taanith,  ch.  2,  §  2;  Berachoth,  ch.  4,  §  3.  Among  the  reasons 
for  the  number  eighteen,  the  best  known  are  these:  The  two 
Psalms  known  as  first  and  second  being  really  one,  the  verse,  "May 
the  words  of  my  mouth,  etc.,"  asking  for  the  acceptance  of  prayer, 


398        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

and  the  next  Psalm,  which  in  its  opening  line  promises  the  granting 
of  prayer,  are  thus  put  after  eighteen  Psalms,  to  which  the  eighteen 
benedictions  correspond.  This  number  is  also  that  of  the  "Names" 
in  Psalm  29.  The  "voice  of  the  Lord"  occurs  in  it  seven  times; 
hence  the  seven  benedictions  on  the  Sabbath  and  on  Festi- 
vals. These  are  not  so  much  reasons  as  means  of  impressing 
these  numbers  on  the  memory,  and  fixing  them  as  unalterable.  In 
T.  B.  Megilla,  ijb,  180,  the  order  of  the  nineteen  benedictions, 
including  that  about  heretics,  is  given  in  full  with  the  reasons  for 
the  order  in  which  they  follow  each  other.  Astonishment  is  ex- 
pressed at  the  conflict  between  the  tradition,  that  the  eighteen 
benedictions  came  from  the  Men  of  the  Great  Synod,  and  the  late 
authorship  of  the  details,  spoken  of  hereinafter. 

"T.  B.  Berachoth,  290;  ib.,  330.  Two  reasons  are  given  for 
choosing  this  benediction:  first,  that  to  distinguish  holy  and  pro- 
fane is  an  act  of  intelligence;  secondly,  that  the  arrival  of  the  work- 
day should  be  announced  in  the  first  benediction  peculiar  to  that 
day. 

"Berachoth,  ch.  5,  §  2,  and  Taanith,  ch.  i,  §i,  which  distinguish 
between  mentioning  rain  and  praying  for  it.  Taanith,  ch.  I,  §  3, 
makes  the  third  or  the  seventh  of  Marheshvan  the  first  day  to 
pray  for  rain  in  Palestine.  The  sixtieth  day  after  the  fall  equinox 
is  named  in  T.  B.  on  this  section  for  those  in  exile,  that  is,  in  the 
main,  for  Babylonia. 

T.  B.  Berachoth,  286,  29(1. 

This  matter  is  fully  discussed  in  Manasseh  ben  Israel's  letters  to 
the  English  Commonwealth,  and  by  numberless  Jewish  apologists 
and  scholars  ever  since.  In  the  English  Prayer  Book  of  1287,  the 
first  word  is  not,  "For  the  Slanderers,"  but  for  the  perverts, 
D'lOltyo/,  a  later  word,  while  D"^irD,  denoting  those  lapsed  into 
paganism,  was  probably  in  the  first  draft,  and  the  thing  to  be 
uprooted  is  the  kingdom  of  haughtiness.  Here  "the  D'J'D"  are 
to  perish  in  a  moment.  Angevin  England  had  no  censor  for 
Hebrew  books.  The  MSS.  of  the  Mahzor  Vitry  are  to  the  same 
effect;  but  the  printed  edition  leaves  blanks  for  the  objectionable 
words,  so  that  the  volume  may  be  allowed  to  enter  Russia. 

"T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  4,  §  3. 

T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  2,  §  3  (4),  in  giving  an  abstract  of  the 
work-day  benedictions,  given  in  its  present  form  leaves  out  XII, 
but  as  copied  in  the  Mahzor  Vitry  this  abstract  has  the  words. 
"May  the  throne  of  David  be  established."  T.  J.  on  Rosh  Hashana, 
ch.  4,  §  7,  quotes  a  Rabbi  who  speaks  of  "Rock  of  David  and 
Builder  of  Jerusalem"  as  the  close  of  one  benediction;  but  this 


NOTES 


399 


seems  from  the  context  to  be  quoted  only  as  an  opinion  on  such  a 
subject,  running  counter  to  the  plain  usage.  Bemidbar  Rabba, 
ch.  18,  takes  21D  in  its  numerical  value,  which  is  seventeen,  as  an 
emblem  of  the  Prayer,  counting  out  XII  and  IX. 

"Some  of  the  foremost  scholars,  like  Zunz,  have  reached  the 
opposite  conclusion.  Dr.  M.  Duschak,  in  a  work  on  the  liturgy 
published  in  1866,  suggests  this  solution:  Our  XII  is  old  as  a 
separate  benediction,  but  when  Gamaliel  introduced  our  IX,  XI 
and  XII  were  united,  so  that  the  number  should  remain  eighteen, 
and  so  the  usage  remained  in  Palestine,  till  the  new  unit  was  again 
broken  into  its  original  parts,  resulting  in  nineteen  benedictions. 

Taanith,  ch.  2,  §  4. 

10T.  B.  Berachoth,  290;  T.  J.  on  same,  ch.  2,  §  3  (4).  The 
Mahzor  Vitry  has  in  both  forms  IDlSty,  "may  judge,"  instead  of 
l£035y,  "may  be  judged,"  and  such  is  the  reading  of  Alfassi,  and 
this  is  followed  in  the  text. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   MIDDLE  BENEDICTION   ON   DAYS   OF   REST 

(Pp.  140-147)        . 

'T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  4,  §  3;  T.  B.  ib.,  290. 

2T.  B.  Shabbath,  ngb,  recommends  him  who  recites  ''Then  were 
finished"  on  Friday  evening;  for  he  makes  himself,  so  to  say,  a  part- 
ner with  God  in  the  work  of  creation.  Yet  Tosifta  to  Berachoth,  ch. 
3,  followed  by  an  evidently  genuine  passage  in  the  Seder  R. 
Amram,  gives  for  Friday  night  a  form  which  does  not  contain  it: 
"From  thy  love,  O  Lord,  wherewith  thou  hast  loved  thy  people 
Israel,  and  thy  compassion,  etc.,  thou  hast  given  us  this  great  and 
holy  seventh  day,  in  love,  for  greatness,  strength,  and  holiness, 
etc."  This  form  coincides  somewhat  with  that  for  the  Festivals  and 
with  a  special  prayer  of  the  Day  of  Atonement.  That  the  Law  was 
given  on  a  Sabbath,  see  T.  B.  Shabbath,  866. 

ST.  B.  Shabbath,  24^,  speaks  of  this  abstract,  remarking  that  if 
the  Sabbath  is  also  a  Festival,  no  mention  is  made  of  the  latter 
occasion,  but  it  does  not  give  the  form;  but  about  this  there  seems 
to  have  never  been  any  dispute. 

4The  opening  words,  "Thou  hast  chosen  us,"  are  mentioned  as 
such  in  T.  B.  Joma,  8/fr,  as  well  known. 

"From  a  discussion  at  Usha  about  the  middle  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, whether  the  "Sanctity  of  the  Day"  should  be  coupled  in  the 


400       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

additional  Prayer  with  the  Kingdoms  or  the  Remembrances  (see 
a  later  chapter),  reported  in  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  326,  it  seems 
that  the  petition  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  had  not  yet  been 
-made  a  part  of  the  "Sanctity  of  the  Day;"  but  was  probably  inserted 
soon  afterward,  when  the  question  was  finally  decided,  that  it  goes 
with  the  Kingdoms. 

cjoma,  ch.  7,  §  i,  and  T.  B.  ib.,  700;  see  Rashi  on  this  passage. 

'This  form  was  drawn  up  by  Rab  and  Samuel  (see  T.  B.  Bera- 
choth,  33&),  and  met  with  great  approval  at  the  time,  being  called  a 
very  pearl  (K.TJJ1D). 

8T.  B.  Betza,  170.  Rabbi  gives  the. conclusion,  "who  hallowest 
the  Sabbath  and  Israel  and  the  Festive  seasons,"  in  full. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   "  ADDITIONAL,"  OR   MUSAF 
(Pp.  148-154) 

1It  is  said,  T.  B.  Taanith,  270,  that  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  which 
was  promised  to  Israel  by  means  of  sacrifice,  they  may  obtain  now 
by  reading  the  law  of  sacrifice;  which  means  the  reading  from  the 
scroll  as  a  lesson,  not  the  reference  to  it  in  a  prayer.  The  leader  in 
Musaf  is  in  Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  4,  §  7,  called  "the  second,"  who 
prompts  the  cornet  blowing;  the  leader  in  Shaharith,  "the  first," 
who  gives  out  Hallel. 

2See  Abudraham,  ad  locum;  he  had  a  truer  copy  of  R.  Amram 
than  that  now  in  print,  but  it  agrees  with  the  latter. 

3The  twenty-two  letters  are  followed  by  the  five  having  a  different 
shape  at  the  end  of  words  (yflyjO). 

4T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  350,  where  a  later  teacher  says  on  the 
authority  of  Rab:  If  one  has  said,  "in  thy  Law  it  is  written  thus," 
no  more  is  necessary.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Rab  gave  that 
opinion  after  he  had  himself  drawn  up  this  prayer,  along  with 
the  special  benedictions  for  the  Musaf  of  New  Year  to  be  found 
in  the  next  chapter.  The  last  verse  of  the  sacrifices  of  the  Day  of 
Memorial  begins:  "Beside  the  burnt-offering  for  the  month,  etc." 
This  is  the  'only  mention  of  New  Moon  on  the  Day  of  Memorial. 
It  is  not  to  be  treated  as  a  New  Moon;  T.  B.  Erubin,  406. 

"Found  in  Seder  R.  Amram.  There  is  no  trace  of  it  in  the 
Talmud,  but  the  purity  of  the  Hebrew  makes  the  authorship  of 
Rab  not  unlikely. 

"The  Mishna  speaks  plainly  of  a  Musaf  service  on  New  Moons  as 


NOTES 


401 


on  Middle  Days  (Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  2).  Perhaps  it  embraced  at  first 
no  more  than  the  closing  part,  in  which  a  happy  month  is  prayed 
for.  The  part  about  the  sacrificial  goat  seems  to  be  borrowed  from 
the  form  for  festivals;  its  worse  Hebrew  indicates  a  later  date. 

7H.  Edelmann,  in  his  annotated  Prayer  Book  (Konigsberg, 
1845),  maintains  that  the  Sabbath  and  New  Moon  benediction  is  the 
older  and  the  source  of  that  for  the  Festivals.  The  contrary 
seems  more  probable.  The  Seder  R.  Amram  gives  it  substantially 
as  it  stands  now  in  the  Sefardic  Ritual. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   DAY   OF   MEMORIAL 

(Pp.  155-164) 

1Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  4,  §  5.  Among  the  six  extra  benedictions  in 
the  Prayer  for  public  fasts  were  the  Remembrances  and  Shofars; 
Taanith,  ch.  2,  §  3. 

2Ibid.,  §  6;  T.  B.  on  same,  326. 

3These  pieces  are  called  "the  hornblowings  of  Rab;"  T.J.  on  Rosh 
Hashana,  ch.  i,  §  5;  T.  J.  on  Aboda  Zara,  ch.  i,  §  2.  In  T.  B. 
Rosh  Hashana,  270,  the  sentence  is  quoted,  "this  day  is  the  begin- 
ning of  thy  works,"  a  memorial  of  the  first  day,  with  the  remark 
that  according  to  the  Mishria  the  benedictions  for  the  Jubilee  were 
the  same  as  those  for  the  New  Year;  showing  that  a  benediction  for 
the  latter,  containing  this  sentence,  must  have  been  written  after  the 
Mishna  was  completed. 

*But  the  Mishna  already  says  (Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  i,  §  2):  "At 
four  seasons  the  world  is  judged,  etc.;  on  Rosh  Hashana  all  that 
come  into  the  world  pass  before  him  like  lambs."  Hence,  the 
judgment  day  may  have  been  referred  to  in  the  benediction  before 
it  took  its  permanent  shape. 

T.  J.  on  Rosh  Hashana,  near  end  of  ch.  4,  quoted  in  Mahzor 
Vitry,  p.  352;  so  also  in  the  Seder  R.  Amram.  R.  Gamaliel  excuses 
those  "in  the  fields"  also,  that  is,  those  who  have  no  leader  to  listen 
to,  from  the  nine  benedictions.  But  as  to  those  in  the  Synagogue 
his  opinions  were  accepted  by  his  contemporaries.  However,  the 
Orah  Hayim,  §  58,  insists  that  everybody,  even  in  silent  devotion  in 
the  Synagogue,  should  say  nine  benedictions,  because  copies  of  the 
Mahzor  are  plentiful. 

"Notwithstanding  the  many  late  additions  in  the  printed  Seder 
26 


402      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

R.  Amram,  this  is  not  found;  but  its  identity  in  both  rituals  indi- 
cates an  early  origin. 

'Based  on  an  Aggadta,  T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  270,  that  Adam 
was  born  on  Tishri  first.  This  is  found  in  the  Seder  R.  Amram. 

8T.  B.  Taanith,  25^,  R.  Akiba  said,  Our  Father,  etc.,  we  have 
no  King  beside  thee;  Our  Father,  etc.,  show  us  mercy  for  thy 
own  sake;  and  rain  came.  See  Orah  Hayim,  §  602  (R.  M.  Isserles), 
and  §  622  (R.  Joseph  Karo). 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   DAY   OF   ATONEMENT 
(Pp.  165-179} 

*T.  B.  Joma,  876.  However,  there  are  reasons  to  suppose  that 
the  alphabetic  lesser  confession  is  very  old.  The  last  word  U.J,'fiyr\ 
is  an  idiomatic  Hebrew  formation,  which  would  have  hardly  been 
ventured  on  after  the  language  was  no  longer  spoken. 

2Maimonides,  in  his  "Order  of  Prayer  for  the  Year,"  indicates 
a  single  alphabet.  In  the  Mahzor  Vitry  most  letters  are  doubled, 
and  the  alphabetic  order  is  not  very  strictly  kept.  The  London 
MS.  of  1287  has  two  lines  for  each  letter,  but  twelve  differ  greatly 
from  those  now  in  use. 

3Joma,  ch.  8,  last  sec.:  "The  sin  and  certain  guilt-offerings 
atone  (the  faults  for  which  they  are  prescribed) ;  death  and  the  Day 
of  Atonement  with  repentance  atone."  Both  Talmuds  on  this 
point  quote  the  opinion  of  R.  Judah,  the  Patriarch,  that  death  and 
the  Day  atone,  even  without  repentance,  all  but  apostasy.  The 
phrase,  "death  atones  iniquity,"  is  quite  current.  See  this  in  the 
form  of  prayer,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  6oa. 

*R.  Akiba  in  T.  J  on  Joma,  ch.  8,  end,  expresses  the  opinion  that 
particular  sins  ought  not  to  be  mentioned,  though,  of  course,  they 
should  be  thought  of  and  repented. 

slt  is  indicated  by  Samuel  (T.  B.  Joma,  876)  by  the  initial  words, 
"What  are  we,  what  our  life,  etc."  This  page  of  the  Talmud  indi- 
cates in  like  manner  many  parts  of  the  present  order  of  confession, 
and  some  pieces  now  forgotten,  one  drawn  up,  or  at  least  recom- 
mended, by  Samuel,  beginning,  "From  the  depths  of  the  heart." 
Here  is  a  confession  also  by  R.  Hemnuna,  now  put  at  the  end  of 
the  silent  Prayer,  but  not  repeated  by  the  leader: 

My  God!  before  I  was  formed,  I  was  worthless,  and  now  since  I 
am  formed,  I  am  no  better;  I  am  dust  while  alive,  how  much  more 


NOTES 


403 


when  dead;  behold,  I  am  before  thee  as  a  vessel  full  of  shame  and 
reproach.  Be  it  thy  will,  that  I  sin  no  more,  and  wipe  out  what  I 
have  sinned  by  thy  abundant  mercy,  and  not  by  sufferings  and  hard 
sickness. 

T.  B.  Rosh  Hoshana,  ijb,  discusses  the  atoning  effects  of 
reciting  the  thirteen  qualities,  and  shows  from  Ex.  34  how  God 
taught  Israel  to  rely  on  them.  The  composition,  "God,  the  King," 
dates  back  to  Talmudic  times:  "He  passes  by  the  first,  by  the 
first,"  is  quoted  in  a  Baraitha  (T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  170). 

'No  trace  of  these  arrangements  of  Bible  verses  (O  thou,  that 
hearest  prayer — Remember  us — Remember  the  covenant)  can 
be  found  in  the  Mahzor  Vitry,  or  in  older  sources.  Among  the 
Selihoth  appended  to  the  Seder  R.  Amram,  there  are  some  collec- 
tions of  Bible  verses,  but  altogether  different  from  those  in  the 
text.  The  divergence  between  the  German  and  the  Polish  ritual 
shows  that  the  collections  were  finished  after  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century. 

8By  a  custom  drawn  from  one  of  these  verses,  men  go  to  a  flow- 
ing river  on  New  Year's  Day,  and  pray  in  these  verses  and  the 
same  added  words,  that  God  may  cast  our  iniquities  into  the  depth 
of  oblivion.  The  whole  is  found  in  the  order  of  Selihoth  for  the 
Day  of  Atonement,  appended  to  the  Seder  R.  Amram. 

"The  writer  saw  such  a  service  at  the  great  German  synagogue  of 
Hamburg  as  late  as  August,  1885. 

10T.  B.  Taanit.h,  150. 

n  According  to  the  Seder  of  R.  Amram,  his  predecessor,  the  Gaon 
Natronai,  laid  down  the  rule  that  "the  sprinklings  and  confessions," 
as  he  called  the  atonement  service,  should  be  recited  in  Musaf 
only.  The  sprinklings:  "One,  one  and  one,  one  and  two,  etc., 
one  and  seven,"  as  ordered  in  Lev.  16,  gave  him  half  of  the  name 
for  the  service. 

12This  "permission"  is  unknown  to  the  Seder  R.  Amram,  to 
the  Mahzor  Vitry,  and  to  Abudraham,  but  is  recognized  in  the 
Orah  Hayim.  The  ban  (or'nj)  was  always  suspended  on  the 
Day  of  Atonement,  but  not  by  announcement  in  the  Synagogue. 

"Nedarim,  ch.  3,  §  i;  though  the  opinion  of  a  stricter  school  is 
also  given,  that  vows  become  void  only  when  the  former  declara- 
tion is  remembered  and  silently  re-affirmed. 

14In  the  Seder  R.  Amram  a  formula  in  Mishnic  Hebrew  of 
similar  import  is  given,  with  the  remark  that  the  two  colleges 
denounce  the  whole  ceremony  of  annulling  vows  on  that  day  as  a 

JHJD — a  foolish  custom. 
The  release  of  vows  by  a  self-constituted  court  of  three  men 


404       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Cstill  well-known  among  old-style  Jews)  is  treated  in  Nedarim, 
ch.  9.  Some  point  must  always  be  alleged:  "If  I  had  thought  of 
this,  I  should  not  have  vowed."  Yet  Abudraham  says,  that  "from 
the  last  past  to  this  year"  should  be  said,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
punishment  for  broken  vows. 

"This  solemn  closing  of  the  fast  is  unknown  to  R.  Amram, 
who  says:  "When  Ne'ila  is  ended,  the  leader  goes  on  at  once  with 
the  evening  service." 

17The  writer  heard  of  this  usage  at  Bagdad  through  Mr.  Wm. 
Schur,  the  author  of  StOBf'  HVJ,  who  stopped  there  on  his  travels. 

"Taanith,  ch.  4,  last  section. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PSALMS   AND   BIBLE   VERSES   IN   THE   SERVICE 
(Pp.  180-192) 


is  Aramaic  in  all  but  the  root;  "D  as  the  suffix  for 
feminine  thee  or  thy  is  either  Aramaic  or  very  old  Hebrew;  the 
forms  niYlDH  and  ir^'D1?  with  the  old  case  endings  show  a  late 
date,  when  the  feeling  for  the  cases  was  lost,  for  both  are  in  the 
wrong  case. 

2Pesahim,  ch.  10,  §  4,  marks  the  chapter  endings  by  the  last 
words  other  than  Halleluiah. 

3T.  B.  Arachin,  12,  the  eighteen  days  (first  of  Passover,  night  and 
day,  counts  as  one)  are  enumerated  —  with  double  feast  days  there 
are  twenty-one. 

4T.  B.  Berachoth,  140,  distinguishes  days  on  which  the  indi- 
vidual completes  the  Hallel  from  those  on  which  he  does  not 
complete  it;  on  the  former  days  he  may  not  interrupt  the  reading, 
except  on  the  same  terms  as  that  of  the  Shema;  on  the  other  days 
he  may  interrupt  it  anywhere.  Maimonides,  Hilchoth  Megilla,  ch. 
3,  §  7,  deems  the  reading  on  the  latter  days  a  mere  custom,  and 
that  only  for  public  worship,  and  disapproves  a  benediction  for 
"the  command."  Rashi  (see  Mahzor  Vitry,  pt.  I,  §  226)  also 
deems  Hallel  on  New  Moon,  etc.,  a  mere  custom,  and  will  not  say 
the  regular  benediction,  but  rather  one  like  that  before  the  morn- 
ing hymns  (see  Ch.  XV).  It  seems  that  the  custom  to  read 
Half  Hallel  and  bless  before  it  him  who  "commanded  us  to 
read"  was  general  in  the  days  of  Rashi  and  Maimonides,  though 
they  objected.  The  Seder  R.  Amram  has  the  benediction. 

5T.  B.  Succa,  386,  where  the  maxim  njty'3  yiy\Vt  is  derived  from 


NOTES 


4°5 


2  Kings  22:  16;  King  Josiah  is  said  to  have  read  the  book,  though 
he  only  listened  to  the  reading. 

"In  a  Bara'itha,  T.  B.  Shabbath,  nSb,  R.  Jose  says:  Be  my  share 
with  those  who  read  Hallel  every  day.  The  Talmud  explains  Hallel 
here  as  the  songs  of  praise  in  the  morning  hymns;  according  to 
some  commentators,  Psalms  146-150,  or  at  least  146  and  148.  One 
of  the  Psalms  read  by  the  Sefardim  before  the  benediction,  i.  e.,  30, 
is  found  in  the  same  place  in  the  fuller  German  prayer  books. 

7Orah  Hayim,  §  131,  subs.  4. 

"The  Seder  R.  Amram  speaks  of  "falling  on  the  face,"  the  usual 
name  for  this  part  of  the  service  in  the  later  standards.  He  gives, 
under  this  head,  some  un-Biblical  prayers,  also  some  of  the  verses 
in  the 'text;  but  makes  no  mention  of  a  Psalm,  either  6  or  25. 

"Mishna  Tamid,  last  section.  On  days  when  "supplications"  are 
read,  the  Germans  add  Psalm  83  to  that  for  the  day. 

10Orah  Hayim,  §  267,  subs.  2,  states  how  early  before  night-fall 
one  may  receive  the  Sabbath  in  the  evening  Prayer."  In  the  next 
subsection  the  only  change  for  the  Sabbath  before  the  Prayer  is 
noted:  namely,  in  the  close  of  UITDtPn.  Not  even  noan  is  recog- 
nized, though  it  is  mentioned  in  the  Seder  R.  Amram  as  now 
printed,  and  was  undoubtedly  in  use,  at  least  locally,  when  the 
Code  was  prepared. 

"These  three  verses  are  traced  back  by  Abudraham  to  the  litur- 
gies of  R.  Amram  and  of  Saadia.  He  also  refers  to  the  Geonim 
for  the  position  that  these  verses  ("]np"tt')  are  omitted  on  days 
when  Hallel  is  said. 

12This  custom  is  unknown  to  Abudraham. 

13R.  Amram  and  Abudraham  have  these  two  verses  even  on  the 
Sabbath  and  Festivals,  for  which  they  are  now  thought  ill-fitted, 
as  suggestive  of  sin  and  repentance  and  of  distress. 

"These  Psalms  are  not  thus  employed  in  Russia;  the  custom  is 
of  very  late  rise,  and  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Orah  Hayim  at  all. 
The  object  of  introducing  them  seems  to  be  to  lay  the  basis  for 
another  Mourners'  Kaddish.  Some  prayer  books  give  additional 
Psalms,  one  each,  for  Sunday,  Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and 
Thursday  nights. 


406      JE WISH  SER VICES  IN  S YNA GOGUE  AND  HOME 


CHAPTER  XIV 

STUDY  AS   PART   OF   THE   LITURGY 

(Pp.  193-202) 

'Study  and  teaching  are  commanded  (outside  of  the  two  \\  of  the 
Shema) :  Ex.  13:  9;  Deut.  4:  19;  5:  I,  28,  and  impliedly  Deut. 
31:  10. 

"Zebahim,  ch.  5  (which  is  the  place?  jDlpD  inr'N).  The  Sefar- 
dic  and  fuller  German  Prayer  Books  bring  in  also  passages  from 
Ex.  30,  as  to  the  basin  and  as  to  incense;  a  Baraitha  in  *T.  B. 
Kerithuth,  6a,  and  T.  J.  on  Joma,  ch.  4,  §  5,  on  the  composition 
of  incense,  two  other  passages  as  to  incense;  also  a  Baraitha  as  to 
the  daily  order  of  all  sacrificial  acts  in  the  Temple. 

3Beginning  of  Sifra  (oldest  commentary  on  Leviticus).  The 
duty  to  study  trebly  each  day:  text,  Mishna,  and  further  discussion, 
is  based  on  a  saying  in  T.  B.  Berachoth,  lift.  R.  Amram  enjoins 
the  reading  of  Zebahim,  ch.  5,  and  the  piece  from  Sifra,  and  of 
these  alone. 

4Tosefoth  on  T.  B.  Berachoth,  lib,  says  that  the  French  Jews 
read  these  short  passages  right  after  the  benedictions,  following 
therein  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  but  thinks  it  unnecessary. 

6The  Germans  read  only  the  three  verses  of  blessing.  The  Sefar- 
dim  in  Eastern  Europe  omit  the  Talmudic  passage.  In  this 
they  follow  Maimonides. 

°Pea,  ch.  i,  §  i.  The  Western  Sefardim  have  a  shorter  form  of 
the  second  sentence,  which  is  by  some  considered  a  Baraitha, 
omitting,  among  other  things,  "devotion  in  prayer."  The  Mahzor 
Vitry  says  that  the  Aramaic  version  of  the  Thrice-Holy,  in 
"A  redeemer  will  come,"  is  a  remnant  of  daily  studies  of  the 
Prophets  with  translation. 

7T.  B.  Berachoth,  ubi  supra,  gives  these  benedictions  for  study 
before  Shema;  while  H31  D3nN  covers  all  study  thereafter.  They 
are  ascribed  to  Babylonians;  no  Tanna  is  named. 

Tamid,  ch.  7,  §  4,  naming  24,  48,  82,  94,  81,  93,  and  for  Saturday 
92:  "A  Psalm  or  song  for  the  future  to  come,  a  day  which  is  all 
Sabbath  and  rest,  for  eternal  life.'' 

"T.  B.  Berachoth,  640,  the  verses  are:  Isa.  54:  13;  Ps.  119:  165; 
122:  6-9;  29:  ii.  The  Seder  R.  Amram  gives  these  three  pieces  for 
every  day  in  the  week. 

"'Shabbath,  ch.   2   (  {''SlO    HD3  ).     A   section  denouncing  heav- 


NOTES 


407 


only  punishment  on  women  for  certain  shortcomings  has  lately 
given  great  offence  among  English  Jews  of  reform  tendencies. 

"If  the  date  of  ch.  6  could  be  ascertained,  it  would  very  nearly 
mark  the  time  when  the  other  five  chapters  came  into  liturgic  use. 
The  Mahzor  Vitry  recommends  the  chapters  for  winter,  not  for 
summer  reading. 

12A  number  of  translations  in  German,  French,  and  English,  with 
critical  and  explanatory  notes,  of  this  treatise,  have  been  published. 
But  the  rendering  in  Leeser's  American,  or  in  Singer's  English 
Prayer  Book,  are  sufficient  to  give  a  good  idea  both  of  style  and 
substance.  A  chapter  of  Aboth  is  familiarly  referred  to  as  a  Perek 
(p"13),  simply  chapter. 

"Sanhedrin,  ch.  10,  first  part  of  §  i.  This  sentence  seems  to  be 
an  interpolation  in  the  Mishna;  the  section  then  proceeds  to  state 
what  sort  of  men  have  no  share  in  the  world  to  come. 

"T.  B.  Maccoth,  230. 

15T.  B.  Megilla,  310.  The  Mahzor  Vitry  gives  this  passage  as 
part  of  the  Saturday  night  service,  showing  that  the  "Poles" 
herein  have  the  old  tradition  on  their  side. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   LESSER   AND   THE   DOUBTFUL  BENEDICTIONS 

(Pp.  203-211) 

'While  the  Orah  Hayim  already  treats  this  transfer  to  the  Syna- 
gogue, or  at  least  a  postponement  until  after  washing  and  dressing, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  Maimonides  (Hilchoth  Tefilla,  ch.  7,  §§  3,  4,  5, 
etc.)  still  prefers  the  old  way,  and  insists  that  any  benediction 
should  be  omitted  for  which  the  occasion  has  not  arisen  for  the 
individual  on  that  morning. 

2T.  B.  Berachoth,  6o&.  As  to  "My  God,  the  soul,"  see  also 
T.  J.  on  Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  5,  §  I.  The  substitute,  "who  revivest 
the  dead,"  is  found  in  Pesikta  de  Rab  Cahana,  ch.  10. 

"Abudraham,  though  living  at  Sevilla  early  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, hardly  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Moors,  says:  "They  recite  it — the  old  benediction — in  all  Moslem 
countries  because  they  are  in  the  habit  of  putting  a  turban  on  the 
head;  but  in  these  countries  they  do  not,  because  they  do  not  put  on 
a  turban.  They  have  a  wholly  different  benediction,  not  named  in 
the  Talmud."  The  Orah  Hayim  knows  only  the  old  benediction. 

4Tosifta  on  Berachoth,  ch.  6;  see  also  T.   B.   Menahoth,  436,  a 


408       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Baraitha,  ascribing  the  three  formulas  to  R.  Meir.  The  forme/ 
has:  "who  has  not  made  me  a'U,"  the  latter,  "who  has  made  me  an 
Israelite;"  a  much  better  reading,  which  was  adopted  in  the  Szold- 
Jastrow  prayer  book;  for  the  use  of 'U  as  the  designation  of  a  single 
Gentile  is  very  bad  Hebrew.  In  the  Baraitha  there  is  a  dispute  as 
between  "bondman"  and  113,  i.  e.,  thoroughly  ignorant  man.  The 
latter  version  is  rejected  as  not  in  keeping  with  the  rest. 

"Tanna  de  Be  Eliah,  ist  pt.,  ch.  21.  Seder  R.  Amram,  as  now 
printed,  contains  it,  and  the  learned  editor,  Nathan  N.  Koronel, 
quotes  the  Arba  Turim,  early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  for  the  gen- 
uineness of  this  passage.  The  old  sources  all  omit,  "Blessed  be  the 
name,  etc.,"  after  Hear,  O  Israel. 

"Nowhere  explicitly  named  in  the  Talmud,  but  implied  by  the 
"Benediction  of  Song"  after  the  morning  hymns,  as  a  benediction 
before  performance  of  duty  is  more  strongly  demanded  than  one 
thereafter.  Also  implied  by  the  criticism  on  the  conclusion, 
"Honored  in  many  praises,"  as  implying  less  than  all;  see  T.  B.  Bera- 
choth,  596.  The  Seder  R.  Amram,  in  its  present  form,  gives, 
"Blessed  he  who  spoke,"  very  much  as  now  found  in  the  Sefardic 
Prayer  Book,  as  the  first  piece  to  be  said  on  entering  the  Syna- 
gogue. 

'This  is  clearly  the  "Benediction  of  Song"  referred  to  in  Pesa- 
him,  ch.  10,  §  7,  and  in  T.  B.  Berachoth,  506,  the  latter  dealing  with 
thanks  for  rain.  Among  the  words  of  praise,  we  have  translated 
D  7p7 ,  to  adorn.  It  is  probably  formed  from  the  Greek  *«M»7 
beauty.  A  Greek  word  indicates  Palestinian  as  opposed  to  Baby- 
lonian origin;  also  a  date  later  than  the  destruction  of  the  Temple; 
but  the  benediction  undoubtedly  grew  from  time  to  time.  The 
absurd  word  nj^iJO  for  revealing,  in  the  Sefardic  form,  coined  out 
of  Joseph's  Egyptian  name,  indicates  a  later  time  of  authorship 
than  a  Greek  root  would. 

"There  is  no  trace  of  this  in  the  Talmud.  Maimonides  gives,  in 
his  "Order  of  Prayer  for  the  Year,"  a  few  of  the  verses  which  pre- 
cede this  benediction,  and  adds:  "Some  of  the  people  say  this," 
giving  the  other  verses  with  the  benediction,  its  "sealing"  included. 
Abudraham  thinks  it  unauthorized. 

"The  command  to  number  days  and  weeks  to  reach  the  Feast  of 
Weeks  is  found  Lev.  23:  15,  and  Deut.  16:  9.  Before  performing 
any  ceremony  commanded  by  the  Law,  a  benediction  in  this  form 
is  spoken.  Tosifta  on  Berachoth,  ch.  6,  states  and  illustrates  by  many 
examples  that  a  blessing  is  due  on  fulfilling  any  affirmative  pre- 
cept; see  also  T.  B.  Megilla,  2ib  ("All  precepts,  etc.").  The  par- 
ticular benediction  is  not  found  in  the  Talmud;  but  the  duty  to 


NO  TES 


409 


count  both  single  days  and  weeks,  and  to  do  it  in  the  evening,  is 
set  forth,  T.  B.  Menahoth,  66a.  In  this  connection  (656)  the 
word  "Sabbath."  in  Lev.  23:  15,  is  determined  to  be  the  first  of  the 
Passover,  so  as  to  bring  Pentecost  always  to  the  same  day  of  the 
year,  the  6th  of  Sivan. 

CHAPTER  XVI       . 

OTHER  PROSE   COMPOSITIONS 
(Pp.  212-221) 

JT.  B.  Berachoth,  i6b;  Cmp.  Jost,  Geschichte  dcs  Judcnthums,  pt. 
II,  p.  152. 

2See  the  "Order  of  Prayer  for  the  Year"  of  Maimonides.  The 
Seder  R.  Amram  gives  it  in  nearly  the  same  words.  It  is  not 
traceable  to  the  Talmud,  unless  it  was  a  part  of  "Master  of  all 
Worlds,"  which  is  highly  improbable. 

"Unknown  as  yet  to  Maimonides.  The  Mahzor  Vitry  has  both 
forms,  and  wants  the  leader  to  recite  one  and  the  people  to  answer 
with  the  other.  Abudraham's  is  the  oldest  Sefardic  authority 
for  it. 

4Abudraham,  in  giving  these  petitions  for  the  Sabbath  before 
New  Moon,  says  "Heaven"  instead  of  "Our  Father  in  Heaven," 
excusing  this  mode  of  speech  by  a  passage  in  Daniel. 

"Seder  R.  Amram  gives  it  without  question  or  comment.  All  the 
medieval  authorities  speak  of  it  as  "Order  of  Sanctification" 


"Thus  in  the  Mahzor  Vitry. 

TYet  the  Seder  R.  Amram  does  not  contain  jp"H3  Dip";  nor 
does  Abudraham. 

8The  Mahzor  Vitry  combines  the  two  pieces  into  one,  adding 
"this  congregation,  etc.,"  to  those  prayed  for  in  the  first  part.  It 
answers  the  objection  that  it  is  Aramaic  with  the  remark,  that 
many  "poetries"  are  in  that  language;  as  indeed  appears  from  that 
volume  to  have  been  the  case  then,  though  it  is  not  so  now. 

"Aboth,  ch.  3,  §  2. 

10To  indicate  the  use  of  this  announcement  of  the  New  Moon,  wt 
have  as  guides:  Maimonides,  in  his  Code,  late  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, knows  nothing  of  it;  Mahzor  Vitry  (1208)  does  not  discuss  it 
among  the  usages  of  the  Sabbath,  but  has  it  as  part  of  the  full  text 
of  Sabbath  services,  without  any  preliminary  prayer;  Abudraham 
(1340)  gives  it  in  full,  with  the  preliminary  prayer.  Neither  R. 
Simha  nor  Abudraham  quotes  any  older  sources. 


410       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

"Mahzor  Vitry,  pp.  309  and  392.  It  quotes  from  To 
ch.  20,  that  there  is  help  (  HJpn  )  for  the  dead,  and  they  should  be 
helped  by  prayer  and  charity.  On  p.  173,  after  Ip~i13  DIP' ,  it  also 
refers  to  this  subject,  and  indicates  a  prayer  for  the  dead,  especially 
for  the  martyrs,  but  does  not  set  it  out  at  large.  It  was  probably 
meant  to  be  much  like  that  in  the  text. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  LATE  "  POETRY  "-  GENERAL  PLAN 
(Pp.  222-230) 

'The  alphabet  may  be  single;  such  it  is  in  most  cases;  that  is,  only 
the  first  word  of  each  line  or  stanza  or  the  first  changing  word 
follows  its  order;  sometimes  it  is  double  or  even  treble.  Thus, 
angels  named  or  denoted  by  alphabetic  order  praise  in  twenty-two 
different  ways,  the  verbs  of  praise  being  put  in  alphabetic  order. 
Generally  the  alphabet  moves  directly  from  Alef  to  Tav;  some- 
times it  runs  backward;  sometimes  both  ways,  as  in  a  very  old 
Seliha  for  Atonement  Day  (riSl)  1JOJ?  ntyj'n  4*0;  that  is,  the 
odd  hemistichs  progress  Alef.  Beth,  etc.;  the  even  ones,  Tav,  Shin, 
etc.,  till  the  last  verse  is  made  up  of  two  hemistichs,  Kaf-Lamed. 
The  play  on  letters  by  seeking  permutations  between  letters  at  the 
same  distance  from  the  end  and  from  the  beginning  of  the  alphabet, 
was  according  to  T.  B.  Shabbath,  1040,  a  favorite  amusement  of 
the  school  children  of  early  days. 

2IIe  runs  his  name  in  as  El'azar  ben  Rabbi  Kalir  (sometimes 
Kilir),  or  simply  as  El'azar.  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra  in  Comm.  on 
Eccl.,  §  5,  criticises  his  poetry  as  a  maze  of  riddles,  and  a  mixture 
of  classic  Hebrew  with  Talmudic  words,  the  former  being  inflected 
in  bad  grammar.  He  may  have  accused  him  of  bad  grammar 
through  a  misunderstanding;  but  if  poems  are  misunderstood  by 
such  a  scholar,  they  are  unfit  for  devotion.  The  pieces  in  the 
Kcdusha  for  the  Musaf  of  New  Year,  and  for  the  morning  and 
Musaf  services  of  Atonement,  and  those  placed  in  the  Kingdoms, 
Remembrances,  and  Shofars,  arc  all  from  Kalir's  pen.  Those  in  the 
Kedusha  are  based  on  Aggadta  that  borders  on  Cabbala;  their  use 
runs  counter  to  what  the  Mishna  says  about  the  "discussion  of  the 
Chariot." 

3Mahzor  Vitry,  p.  362,  §  225.  The  Sefardim  have  pretty  much 
lived  up  to  the  rule.  They  have  even  on  Atonement  Day  no 
"poetry"  in  the  first  and  second  benedictions;  only  a  few  in  the 


NOTES  411 

third,  in  great  part  by  Jehuda  Hallevi,  and  these  lead  up  naturally 
to  the  Thrice-Holy,  dealing  only  with  the  honor  which  angels  and 
men  pay  to  God;  and  there  are  Selihoth  in  the  fourth  benediction; 
that  is,  prayers  for  forgiveness  where  they  belong.  The  long  day 
is  filled  up  to  a  great  extent  by  poetical  and  other  devotions  out- 
side of  the  Prayer.  They  have  several  versions  of  the  Azharoth, 
or  collections  of  the  613  precepts,  in  use  in  different  countries. 
The  Gallia  Judaica,  or  Dictionnaire  Geographique  de  la  France  d'  aprcs 
les  sources  rabbiniques,  compiled  by  Henry  Gross  and  put  into 
French  by  Moise  Bloch,  and  printed  at  Paris  in  1897  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Societe  des  Etudes  juives,  contains  literary  notices 
of  the  Jewish  writers  in  the  different  towns  of  France,  among 
them  many  authors  of  Piyutim  in  the  wider  sense  of  the  word. 
Some  of  these  compositions  are  found  in  the  modern  German 
Mahzor,  while  others  have  gone  out  of  use;  some  written  at  Avig- 
non or  Carpentras  for  a  Sefardic  public.  The  most  important  name 
in  this  connection  is  that  ofMenahem  ben  Joseph,  Hazan  ofTroyes, 
the  author  of  the  Troyes  Ritual  (  t?"ntO  "HD  ),  put  in  shape  and 
published  by  his  disciple,  Judah  ben  Eliezer.  The  Mahzor  Vitry 
contains  very  few  of  the  "  poetries  "  in  modern  use,  and  much  that 
is  now  obsolete;  the  development  of  the  poetic  pieces  in  the  Festi- 
val morning  service  from  "Jotzer"  to  "Silluk"  is  unknown  to  its 
author  and  to  his  age. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

SAMPLES   OF   POST-BIBLICAL  POETRY 

(Pp.  231-240) 

'Many  prayer  books  reprint  the  thirteen  articles  of  the  creed  as 
Maimonides  wrote  it,  each  preceded  by  the  words:  I  believe  with 
full  faith.  They  are:  (i)  Existence  of  God;  (2)  His  Oneness; 
(3)  His  being  incorporeal;  (4)  His  eternity  in  past  time;  (5)  That 
he  is  the  creator  of  all;  (6)  His  revelation  by  prophets;  (7)  Moses 
the  greatest  of  the  prophets;  (8)  The  truth  of  the  Tora;  (9)  Its 
being  unchangeable;  (10)  God's  prescience;  '00  The  reward  of 
the  righteous  and  punishment  of  the  wicked:  (12")  The  advent  of  a 
future  Messiah;  (13)  The  resurrection. 

2It  is  mentioned  by  its  first  two  words  (  oVi;'  JHK  )  in  the  Eng- 
lish ritual  of  1287,  and  must  then  have  been  well-known.  Some 
say  that  Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol  was  the  author;  this  is  possible. 
The  two  additional  lines,  which  the  Sefardim  insert  as  7  and  8,  are: 


412       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Without  estimate  or  likening,  without  change  or  transmutation; 
without  joining  or  division,  great  in  strength,  and  whose  is  power." 
These  recall  some  of  Ibn  Gebirol's  metaphysical  language  in  the 
Song  of  Unity. 

ST.    B.    Baba    Kamma,    326.      R.    Jannai    cried    out:      Come,    O 
Bride! 


CHAPTER  XIX 

CABBALISTIC    INTERPOLATIONS 

(Pp.  241-244) 

'The  Zohar  on  Exodus  recommends  this  prayer  thus:  "Says 
R.  Simeon,  when  they  take  out  the  Book  of  the  Law  in  public  to 
read  therein,  the  gates  of  the  heaven  of  mercy  are  opened,  and 
they  arouse  love  above;  and  a  man  ought  to  say  thus."  Abudra- 
ham,  writing  two  generations  after  the  date  of  the  Zohar,  as  yet 
says  nothing  about  the  reception  of  this  prayer;  nor  is  it  in  the 
Amsterdam  Prayer  Book  of  1658.  It  made  its  way  into  the 
service  only  slowly  after  the  life-work  of  Isaac  Luria,  on  behalf  of 
the  Cabbala,  had  borne  full  fruit. 

2The  authorized  daily  Prayer  Book  of  the  United  Synagogue  of 
the  British  Empire  (German  Ritual)  has  met  the  difficulty  in  its 
edition  of  1895  in  the  following  way:  It  gives  "meditations"  before 
the  putting  on  of  the  fringed  shawl,  before  laying  on  phylacteries, 
at  sitting  down  in  the  Succa,  and  before  handling  the  Lulab,  as 
drawn  up  by  Cabbalists,  but  with  all  the  Cabbalistic  matter  (unit- 
ing God  and  his  Presence,  and  "with  fear  and  love")  and  all  the 
grotesque  Midrashic  matter  left  out;  and  it  gets  rid  of  the  ugly 
petition  which  goes  with  the  priestly  blessing,  b.y  omitting  that 
ceremony  altogether  and  leaving  it  for  the  Festival  Mahzor,  of 
which  there  is  as  yet  no  official  edition. 


NOTES  413 

BOOK  III 

THE    DESK    AND    THE    PULPIT 

CHAPTER  I 

THE   WEEKLY   PENTATEUCH   LESSON 
(Pp.  247-253) 

'The  present  order  of  lessons  is  found  in  every  Jewish  Almanac, 
the  division  of  weekly  portions,  in  every  Hebrew  Bible.  The  need 
for  Vacthlwnnan  on  the  Sabbath  after  the  9th  of  Ab  will  appear  in 
the  chapter  on  Prophet  Lessons;  the  seven  consolations  must  be 
read  between  the  Fast  and  New  Year. 

2Acts  15:  21 ;  Jos.  ag.  Apion,  2,  17;  T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch.  I,  §  i. 
About  the  court  sessions  on  Monday  and  Thursday,  see  Kethuboth, 
ch.  I,  §  i. 

"Of  the  two  passages  quoted — T.  J.  on  Shabbath,  ch.  16,  §  I,  and 
Soferim,  ch.  16,  §  9 — the  former  only  speaks  of  175  passages  in  the 
Pentateuch  which  contain  precepts;  the  latter  is  too  late  and  un- 
authentic  to  be  a  historic  authority.  When  the  Treatise  of  Scribes 
was  written,  the  division  into  175  Sabbath  portions  was,  by  its  own 
admission,  not  used  anywhere. 

4T.  B.  Megilla,  296. 

"See  Tudela's  experience,  as  given  in  note  5  to  Bk.  I,  ch.  I;  also 
a  MS.  with  Arabic  notes  on  the  three-years  cycle — Oxford,  Neu- 
bauer,  f.  22— of  which  more  will  be  said  in  the  chapter  on  Prophet 
Lessons. 

T.  B.  Megilla,  316. 

7Ib.  This  rule  of  reading  the  beginning  of  the  next  portion  is  in  a 
Bara'itha,and  must  have  applied  to  the  Palestinian  three-years  cycle, 
as  well  as  to  the  one  year.  Hence,  the  opinion  there  given  in  favor 
of  reading  straight  along  on  Saturday  afternoon,  Monday,  Thurs- 
day, and  Saturday  morning,  but  overruled,  is  somewhat  strange,  as 
it  would  require  51  verses,  at  the  least,  for  every  week;  too  much 
for  a  three-years  cycle.  The  Tanna  who  wanted  to  have  it  that 
way  must  have  favored  a  cycle  of  two  years. 

"The  absence  of  a  statement  to  that  effect  in  the  book  of  Nehe- 
miah  is  the  strongest  negative  proof. 


414        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


9T.  B.  Megilla,  296,  300:     Where  the  portions    Xtyn  'D    and 
are  named  as  now  by  their  opening  words. 

10It  appears  from  a  passage  in  T.  J.  that  the  Tora  may  be  finished 
on  a  Sabbath  and  New  Moon,  which  excludes  the  last  day  of  the 
Feast;  there  is  also  proof  that  Gen.  5  was  read  during  the  Passover; 
other  facts  tending  this  way  are  collated  by  Mr.  A.  Bitchier,  in  his 
articles  in  the  Jewish  Quarterly  Rcviezv  for  July  and  October,  1893. 

11T.  B.  Megilla,  end  of  third  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II 

LESSONS  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  WEEKLY  ORDER 
(Pp.  254-259) 

'All  these  lessons,  along  with  those  for  Purim,  Ninth  of  Ab, 
Ilanucca,  and  New  Moons,  are  given,  T.  B.  Megilla,  310,  b,  where 
Baraiitha  and  Gemara  are  easily  separated. 

2Ten  verses  are  otherwise  the  minimum  for  a  lesson  (T.  B.  Me- 
gilla, 2i&) ;  but  the  battle  with  Amalek  is  told  in  nine  verses.  This 
lesson  is  the  only  exception  to  the  rule. 

3The  Talmudic  treatise  on  Fasts  (Taanith)  treats  of  the  special 
fasts  for  drought  or  other  distress,  and  so  still  does  Abudraham  in 
the  fourteenth  century.  The  Mahzor  Vitry  gives  7TV1  as  the  lesson 
for  the  afternoon  of  the  Ninth  of  Ab  without  quoting  authority. 
The  Talmud,  1.  c.  says:  Read  the  account  of  creation  at  the  f\no^D, 
and  "blessings  and  curses"  on  the  Fasts.  The  present  lesson  was 
chosen  on  account  of  the  atoning  virtue  of  the  thirteen  qualities. 

4The  Talmud  says:  ''And  on  your  New  Moons,"  which  is  not  the 
beginning,  for  it  would  give  only  six  verses  for  four  men.  Some 
other  lessons  are  also  named  by  a  descriptive  verse  in  the  middle. 

5T.  B.  Megilla,  2gb. 

"Megilla,  ch.  3,  §§  4  and  5,  where  the  four  special  Sabbaths  are 
named,  and  §  6,  which  speaks  also  of  the  conflict  between  Festivals 
and  the  reading  on  Saturday  afternoon,  Monday,  and  Thursday. 

7T.  B.  Taanith,  276. 

CHAPTER  III 

HOW  THE  LESSON   IS  DISTRIBUTED 

(Pp.  260-264) 

'Megilla,  ch.  4,  §§  i,  2.  At  all  events  the  Tora  must  be  read,  not 
recited  by  heart;  T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch.  2.  §  r.  Only  in  the  Temple, 


ArO  TF.S 


415 


on  the  Day  of  Atonement,  the  High  Priest  read  the  small  passage 
about  the  day,  in  Lev.  23,  by  heart  for  reasons  given. 

2Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  5,  as  to  boys  under  13;  Baraitha  in  T.  B. 
Megilla,  230:  "Even  a  woman." 

3Gittin,  ch.  5,  §  8:  "For  the  sake  of  peace  they  call  first  a  Cohen, 
then  a  Levite,  then  an  Israelite,"  and  T.  B.  on  same,  596.  The 
deduction  is  drawn  from  T.  B.  Kethuboth,  25^,  that  a  Levite  is 
called  on  after  a  Cohen;  if  there  is  no  Cohen,  a  plain  Israelite  is 
called  in  his  place.  When  there  is  no  Levite,  the  Cohen  first 
called  reads  or  blesses  again  the  second  subsection  "in  place  of  a 
Levite."  In  modern  practice,  when  more  than  seven  are  called, 
the  last  may  be  a  Cohen  or  Levite;  see  discussion  in  Mahzor  Vitry, 

P-  95- 

4A  professional  reader  ( JOp  )  is  mentioned,  T.  B.  Taanith,  276, 
who  directs  those  called  to  the  desk,  especially  school  children, 
when  to  stop.  The  story  about  R.  Akiba  is  quoted  by  the  Mahzor 
Vitry  from  the  "History"  of  Josippon,  the  wildest  of  romancers. 

"Megilla,  ch.  4,  §§  i,  2. 

CT.  B.  Berachoth,  lib,  gives  the  first  benediction  (see  Bk.  II,  Ch. 
XIV);  as  to  the  other,  see  Soferim,  ch.  13,  §  8.  The  form  there 
given  differs  somewhat  from  the  present. 

7T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch.  3,  last  section. 

8T.  B.  Megilla,  2ib,  sub  fine:  "now"  each  blesses,  etc.,  "for  those 
who  come  late." 

"The  lawfulness  of  calling  women  and  small  boys  is  admitted  by 
all  the  Codes,  including  the  Orah  Hayim,  though  it  is  said,  that 
to  call  a  woman  might  be  a  dishonor  to  the  congregation,  as  prov- 
ing the  lack  of  men  able  to  read,  as  already  stated  in  the  Talmud. 

10T.  B.  Rosh  Hashana,  310,  gives  the  beginning  words  by  initials, 
which  Rashi,  after  older  sources,  explains. 

"T.  B.  Megilla,  230,  admitted  that  the  Maftir  reads  in  the  Law; 
dispute  whether  he  is  of  the  seven  or  not.  The  latter  notion  seems 
to  prevail. 

"Soferim.  ch.  17,  §  9;  T.  B.  Taanith,  276,  sub  fine. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  LESSON  FROM  THE  PROPHETS 
(Pp.  265-275) 

'Abudraham,  where  in  the  Sabbath  morning  service  he  first  comes 
to  the  Haftara,  speaks  in  general  terms  of  a  persecution,  during 


4 1 6       JE WISH  SER VICES  IN  SYNAGOG UE  AND  HOME 

which  reading  from  the  Law  was  prohibited.  He  is  unreliable 
herein,  as  he  gives  a  similar  explanation  of  many  usages,  for  in- 
stance, of  yw  and  H  "JX  in  the  Kedusha  of  the  Additional  as  a 
substitute  for  the  reading  of  the  Shema.  However,  this  view, 
though  unsupported  by  the  Talmud,  has  been  commonly  received. 
The  statement,  I  Mace,  i :  56,  that  Antiochus  caused  the  books  of 
the  Law  to  be  burned,  lays  some  foundation  for  it. 

2The  original  scheme  was  that  Isa.  55  and  Hos.  14  should  be 
the  two  Repentances;  each  ritual  set  one  of  them  aside  for  fast 
day  afternoon.  The  Germans  found  a  good  substitute  in  Ezekiel; 
the  Sefardim  read  2  Sam.  18  simply  because  it  is  a  song,  to  match 
the  song,  Deut.  33. 

3Sections  XLII  and  XLIII  are  then  read  separatelv.  each  with 
one  of  the  "Punishments." 

4In  every  Hebrew  Bible  the  margin  of  the  eight  books  marks 
where  a  Haftara  for  any  portion  or  day,  by  either  ritual,  begins 
and  ends. 

"Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  10;  but  R.  Jehuda  (ben  Il'ai)  allows  it;  his 
opinion  prevailed.  The  sixteenth  chapter  of  Ezekiel  is  forbidden 
in  the  same  place,  as  being  too  rude  a  denunciation  of  our  "mother" 
Zion. 

"T.  B.  Megilla,  310  and  b,  sets  out  all  Haftaroth  for  Feasts,  Fast 
of  Ninth  of  Ab,  and  special  Sabbaths.  That  for  fast  day  afternoon 
seems  to  have  been  evolved  later. 

'Tosefoth  on  T.  B.  Megilla,  316,  explains  the  change  in  practice 
from  the  text  by  saying:  "We  go  by  the  Pesikta." 

8T.  B.  Megilla,  316,  names  "Your  New  Moons,  etc.,"  which  is 
Isa.  i:  14,  to  be  read  when  the  New  Moon  of  Ab  is  a  Sabbath;  also 
intimates  that  rO'X,  ib.,  verse  21,  would  fit  the  chapter  for  a  lesson 
on  the  Ninth  of  Ab. 

T.  B.  Megilla,  236. 

1('Tr.  Soferim,  ch.  14,  §  2. 

"Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  4,  allows  skipping,  but  always  forward,  and 
though  not  from  book  to  book,  yet  from  one  of  the  Twelve  to 
another. 

I:A11  information  about  this  MS.  (Neubauer.  f.  22)  is  drawn  from 
Ad.  Biichler's  article  in  the  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  October,  1893, 
in  which  it  is  copied.  The  lessons  are  marked  by  the  first  and  last 
verse;  those  of  two  verses  each  have  the  words  £DP3  J'plDS  (Arabic: 
two  verses  only)  appended.  He  quotes  other  MS.  works,  in  which 
some  Haftaroth  in  the  three-years  cycle  are  mentioned,  agreeing 
with  this  fragment.  T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch.  4,  §§  2,  3,  requires  three 
verses  at  least,  though  there  be  an  interpreter. 


NO  TES 


4*7 


13Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  10,  and  a  Bara'itha  under  it  speak  of  incidents 
(such  as  that  of  Amnon  and  Tamar)  to  be  read,  but  not  trans- 
lated; indicating  lessons  not  now  in  use. 

14T.  B.  Megilla,  256. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   LITURGY   OF  THE  DESK 
(Pp.  276-283) 

T.  B.  Berachoth,  54^. 

2T.  J.  on  Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  4,  §  7,  has  a  form  for  the  third 
benediction  after  the  Haftara,  "the  God  of  David,"  now  the  "Shield 
of  David."  The  second  in  some  of  the  older  sources  closes, 
"builder  of  Jerusalem,"  which  is  at  bottom  the  same  as  the  present 
conclusion. 

3The  following  sections  in  Tr.  Soferim  are  drawn  upon  for  this 
chapter:  ch.  8,  §§  9-14;  ch.  14,  §§  8,  9  (Hear,  O  Israel),  and  follow- 
ing sections  in  ch.  14.  Maimonides  speaks  of  one  benediction 
before  and  four  after  reading,  without  giving  them  in  full;  but  says 
the  last  closes  like  the  "Sanctity  of  the  Day."  It  is  very  prob- 
able that  the  liturgy  of  the  desk  was  enlarged  from  time  to  time, 
to  make  up  for  the  loss  of  the  interpreter,  perhaps  also  for  that  of 
the  preacher.  The  last  benediction  after  the  Haftara,  for  which 
there  is  no  Talmudic  evidence,  is  probably  as  old  as  the  other 
three.  The  words,  "blessed  be  Thou,"  recur  seven  times  in  the 
benedictions  before  and  after;  probably  meant  to  represent  the 
seven  men  called  to  read  the  weekly  portion. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   FIVE    SMALL   BOOKS 

(Pp.  284-287) 

The  following  sections  of  the  Treatise  Soferim  (which  is  not  a 
part  of  the  Mislina,  but  later  than  the  Gemara)  are  drawn  on  for 
this  chapter:  ch.  14,  §§  5,  6,  18-  ch.  18,  §  4. 

2Megilla,  ch.  2,  §  2.  The  materials  needed  are  the  same  as  for  a 
scroll  of  the  Law. 

"The  Mislina  leaves  the  making  of  benediction  to  local  custom; 
this  is  explained  in  the  T.  B.  Megilla,  2ib,  to  refer  to  the  benediction 

27 


418       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

after  reading,  as  that  before  reading  falls  under  the  general  rule  of 
blessing  before  the  performance  of  all  precepts. 

4It  seems  that  at  one  time  the  public  reading  of  the  book  began 
here,  with  the  greatness  of  Mordecai,  not  with  the  greatness  of 
Ahasuerus;  at  least  according  to  the  ruling  of  some  of  the  Sages; 
Megilla,  ch.  2,  §  3. 

T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  i;  T.  B.  Megilla,  2ib.  The  latter  form 
has  prevailed.  The  double  closing  is  to  reconcile  two  traditions  as 
to  the  right  ending. 

°T.  B.  Taanith,  300. 

'Megilla,  ch.  i,  §  i.  This  is  of  historic  interest,  as  showing  the 
importance  of  the  sessions  held  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays. 

"The  same  rule  applies  to  birthdays.  A  boy  born  in  Adar  of  a 
common  year  only  attains  his  age  in  the  second  Adar,  if  his  thir- 
teenth birthday  happens  in  an  intercalary  year;  Megilla,  ch.  I,  §  4. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   INTERPRETER,    OR    METHURGAMAN 
(Pp.  288-292) 

'The  great  number  of  Greek  words  that  have  penetrated  the  Mish- 
na  and  the  still  greater  number  in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  and  in  the 
Midrash,  render  this  clear.  The  latter  in  several  passages  has 
plays  on  Greek  words,  which  shows  that  these  were  well  under- 
stood. At  Caesarea,  the  services  at  the  Synagogue  were  sometimes 
recited  in  Greek  ( «A/liyyf/rr»v ) ;  T.  J.  on  Sota,  ch.  7,  §  I,  comment- 
ing on  the  rule,  that  Hearing  of  Shema  and  Prayer  may  be  spoken 
in  any  language  that  is  understood.  The  duty  to  interpret  the  Tora, 
when  publicly  read,  is  derived  by  some  from  the  example  of  Ezra; 
T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  i,  quoting  Neh.  8:  8;  though  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  must  have  been  quite  unwilling  to  admit  ignorance  of 
Hebrew  on  the  part  of  their  hearers  and  to  use  a  foreign  tongue. 

2Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  4.  "If  the  three  be  three  paragraphs,  he  reads 
one  by  one." 

3Dr.  H.  Barnstein,  in  his  pamphlet  'Targum  of  Onkelos  to  Gene- 
sis," already  cited,  draws  from  a  study  of  the  Yemen  MSS.  the  con- 
clusion that  it  was  written  in  Palestine  in  the  second  century,  and 
inclines  to  identify  Onkelos  with  Aquila.  Rapoport  of  Prague, 
about  1826,  wrote  a  work  on  the  Targum,  which  he  called  "U  3niN, 
Friend  of  the  Convert.  Zunz,  however,  believes  that  the  version  of 
Akylas  (D?'PX)  was  not  Aramaic  at  all,  but  Greek,  and  was  much 


NO  TES 


419 


liked  by  the  Rabbis,  because  it  clung  closely  to  the  Hebrew  text, 
while  the  Septuagint,  gotten  up  by  the  Jews  in  Egypt  (and  which 
is  always  followed  by  the  New  Testament  writers),  diverges  from 
it  very  widely. 

4T.  B.  Sota,  49&. 

8Dr.  Barnstein's  pamphlet,  supra,  p.  22  (quoting  from  Deren- 
bourg's  Manuel  du  Lecteur). 

"Orah  Hayim,  §  145,  subs.  3. 

7Megilla,  ch.  2,  §  i;  T.  B.  on  same  (f.  180)  remarks,  if  it  be  in 
Greek,  one  must  read  from  a  Greek  copy;  otherwise  it  would  be  a 
recital  by  heart,  which  is  unlawful. 

"The  first  great  objection  to  Akdamoth  is  its  rich  Aramaic  vocabu- 
lary, which  makes  it  a  sealed  book  to  all  who  do  not  study  it  up 
beforehand;  the  other  is  the  introduction  of  the  rather  wild  fancy 
about  the  future  fight  between  Leviathan  and  Behemoth,  and  how 
the  former  will  be  served  up  for  breakfast  (Ariston)  to  the  right- 
eous in  Paradise. 

"Megilla,  ch.  2,  §  9.  "Rabban  Simeon  ben  Gamaliel  says:  They 
did  not  allow  even  sacred  books  to  be  written,  except  in  Greek." 
And  see  T.  B.  Megilla,  180. 

10Obadia  of  Bartenoro,  in  his  commentary  on  Megilla,  ch.  2,  §  9. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PREACHING 

(Pp.  293-296) 

1Such  ethical  rules,  given  as  Halacha,  not  as  in  the  treatise 
Aboth  as  individual  opinion,  are  found,  for  instance,  in  Baba 
Metzia,  ch.  4,  §  2  (the  unwritten  higher  law) ;  ib.,  §  7  (duty  of 
restoring  wrongful  gains);  ib.,  §  10  (tenderness  in  speech);  ib.,  §  II 
(high  standard  of  mercantile  honesty).  Or  take  in  Edu'ioth,  ch.  5, 
§  6,  the  account  of  Akabia  ben  Mahal'el,  who  spurned  the  highest 
office  rather  than  yield  his  conviction  on  any  point,  preferring  to 
be  thought  a  fool  all  his  life  to  seeming  wicked  for  one  moment; 
and  who  refused,  on  his  death,  to  recommend  his  son  to  his  com- 
panions, telling  him,  "thy  works  may  bring  thee  near  to  them,  thy 
works  may  estrange  thee."  Or  Sota,  ch.  9,  §  5,  where  the  neglect 
or  abandonment  of  our  neighbor,  when  it  leads  to  his  death,  is 
equalled  to  shedding  his  blood. 

'T.  B.  Megilla,  last  sentence,  a  Baraitha. 

3T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch.  4,  §§  2,  3,  which  fixes  twenty-one  verses 


420       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

for  the  Haftara,  but  holds  three  verses  enough,  when  interpreted, 
shows  that  a  pretty  lengthy  paraphrase  was  expected.  The  Talmud 
speaks  of  great  Rabbis  acting  as  interpreters,  who  would  naturally 
give  their  own  views  in  the  paraphrase.  Soferim.  ch.  14,  §  2,  says 
expressly  "when  interpreted  or  preached  on."  Still  the  sermons  in 
Talmudic  times  must  have  been  very  short,  as  we  find  constant 
demands  for  briefness,  for  fear  of  "wearying  the  assemblage" 

xmco). 


BOOK  IV 

INCIDENTS  AND   CEREMONIES 
CHAPTER  I 

POSTURE,    SOUND,    THOUGHT 
(Pp.  299-307) 

'The  Psalm  verse  (84:  5):  "Happy  are  they  who  sit  in  thy 
house,"  and  its  introduction  into  the  service  are  some  proof.  See 
Bk.  I,  ch.  VII,  as  to  chairs  and  benches.  The  German  Gentiles 
called  the  synagogue  "Judenschule,"  seeing  people  sitting  on 
benches  and  reading  books.  Hilchoth  Tefilla,  ch.  9,  §  i:  As  a  rule, 
the  people  sit. 

"E.  g.,  the  "sitting  alarm  sounds"  on  New  Year;  see  hereafter. 
Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  i :  The  Book  of  Esther  may  be  read  in  sitting 
posture.  On  the  Ninth  of  Ab  the  reader  of  Lamentations  sits  on  a 
"low  stool  or  step." 

3Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  3:  "They  raise  their  hands,"  means  to  impart 
the  blessing. 

'Known  as  a~llTr\D;  frequent  in  the  German  Ritual  of  the  Solemn 
Days. 

°This  usage  has  grown  up  without  the  notice  of  the  late  or  of 
previous  Codes.  See  Orah  Hayim,  §  146.  The  notes,  "Magen 
David,"  support  the  text,  showing  that  Nell.  8:  5:  "When  he 
opened  it,  all  the  people  stood  up,"  means  only  that  they  were 
silent. 

"1  Kings  8:  29,  38;  also  Dan.  6:  11.  Mishna  Berachoth,  ch.  4, 
§§  5,  6:  If  one  cannot  turn  his  face,  he  should  turn  at  least  his 


NOTES 


42I 


heart  to  the  Holy  of  Holies.  T.  B.  Berachoth,  3oa:  "Feet  as  one 
foot."  T.  B.  Berachoth,  lob:  "Tears  off  his  feet"  (vSn  n«  ip'jr) 
ib.,  2$b. 

~T.  B.  Berachoth,  326.     Ib.,  270. 

8Mishna  Berachoth,  ch.  i,  §  3.  On  the  Dav  of  Atonement,  as  of 
old  in  the  Temple,  all  rise  at  the  response  (V'JI  UV  1^2),  which 
follows. 

"Dan.  6:  n;  T.  B.  Berachoth,  346.  The  Mishna  does  not  mention 
kneeling  in  prayer  at  all. 

10Mishna  Joma,  ch.  6,  §  2:  "And  when  the  priests  and  people 
who  stood  in  the  court  heard  the  plainly  spoken  Name,  as  it  came 
from  the  mouth  of  the  High  Priest,  they  would  kneel  and  bow 
down  and  fall  on  their  faces  and  say:  Blessed  is  the  name  of  his 
glorious  kingdom  forever  and  ever." 

"Baraitha  in  T.  B.  Berachoth,  340.  See  opinions  in  favor  of 
kneeling  and  bending,  ib.,  2&b. 

*  D'3X  hy  D'bsiJ  ;  the  phrase  and  custom  are  known  to  the 
Talmud,  T.  B.  Megilla,  226,  though  only  on  public  fasts;  but  see 
Orah  Hayim,  §  131;  also  Abudraham's  older  work,  which  refers  to 
R.  Amram  on  the  question,  "whether  they  fall  on  their  faces"  on 
Purim. 

"Cuzari,  pt.  2,  §  80,  repels  the  reason  drawn  from  the  lively 
temper  of  the  Jews,  and  traces  the  habit  to  the  former  necessity 
of  ten  or  more  men  reading  from  one  big  book  laid  before  them  on 
the  ground.  Abudraham  puts  it  on  the  Psalm  verse.  Rashi  on 
T.  B.  Berachoth,  620,  speaks  of  Bible  readers  from  Palestine,  who 
accompany  their  chant  with  the  right  arm  as  with  a  baton. 

14Ex.  29:  6,  9;  Zech.  3:  5.     Always  so  depicted. 

15T.  B.  Berachoth,  6ob:  "He  spreads  the  kerchief  on  his  head, 
and  blesses  him  who  crowns  Israel  with  beauty."  This  is  to  be 
done  and  said  before  the  fringed  shawl  or  phylacteries  are  put  on. 
T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  2,  §  3,  says  of  R.  Johanan  ben  Zaccai,  that 
by  reason  of  his  corpulence  he  wore  no  turban  in  summer,  and 
was  otherwise  almost  naked.  The  Treatise  Soferim  puts  a  person 
with  uncovered  head  on  a  footing  with  one  half-clad  (nni3),  whose 
knees  and  shoulders  are  bare.  As  to  covered  head  and  fear  of 
Heaven,  see  T.  B.  Shabbath,  1566. 

"This  is  shown  by  the  unbroken  testimony  of  all  antique  statues. 
T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  i.  §  3,  tells  us  how  the  Roman  Emperors 
required  everybody  to  bare  his  head  as  a  mark  of  awe,  when  an 
imperial  rescript  ^(>t>t;ra.fii.a)  was  read,  which  to  the  Asiatics 
seemed  a  hardship. 

17i    Cor.   ii :  4,  7:     Men  must  pray  and  preach  with  uncovered 


422       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

heads,  while  other  verses  in  the  same  chapter  bid  women  to  pray 
with  covered  heads,  for  reasons  not  very  flattering  to  the  fair  sex. 

""Historic  proof  of  this  position  can  perhaps  not  be  had;  but  we 
know  that  many  forms  of  salutation  among  Christians  and  Moham- 
medans are  marks  of  religious  recognition;  see  art.  SALUTATION  in 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

19Orah  Hayim,  §  2  (head  to  be  covered  when  fringed  garment  is 
worn) ;  §  .8  (none  to  walk  four  cubits  distance  bare-headed) ;  §  91 
(hat  or  cap  at  prayers);  §  151,  subs.  6,  §  282,  subs.  3  (even  children, 
who  may  otherwise  be  uncovered,  must  cover  the  head  when  read- 
ing the  Law).  Maimonides,  writing  in  Moslem  countries,  enjoins 
only  learned  men,  as  a  matter  of  decency,  always  to  keep  their 
heads  covered.  In  Hilchoth  Tefilla,  ch.  4,  §  I,  he  does  not  reckon 
the  uncovered  head  among  the  positive  hindrances  to  prayer.  A  MS. 
lately  discovered  at  Cambridge  (see  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  Octo- 
ber, 1892,  p.  23)  of  a  work  by  R.  Asher  ben  Shaiil,  a  French  Rabbi 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  of  "Lorid,"  probably  in  France,  states  that 
the  benediction,  "who  crowns  Israel,  etc."  was  not  customary  in 
the  writer's  country  as  in  Spain,  because  many  Israelites  there 
went  with  uncovered  heads.  And  there  is  other  evidence  to  show 
that  for  a  long  time  the  Jews  of  France  were  careless  about  cover- 
ing the  head,  even  at  prayers.  But  Abudraham  says  the  same  as  to 
Christian  Spain,  in  1340,  to  the  extent  that  they  do  not  say  the 
blessing,  and  do  not  spread  the  kerchief;  not,  however,  stating  that 
his  contemporaries  in  Seville  say  their  prayers  bare-headed.  (See 
Bk.  II,  ch.  XIV.) 

a)Joma,  ch.  8,  §  i.  Taking  off  the  shoes  on  the  Ninth  of  Ab  has 
a  further  reason;  it  is  a  badge  of  mourning. 

21Megilla.  ch.  4,  §  8,  where  the  same  suspicion  attaches  to  insist- 
ence on  white  garments.  Such  are,  however,  worn  in  our  days  on 
the  Day  of  Atonement:  a  long,  white,  lace-trimmed  robe,  with 
linen  cap  to  suit. 

'"Such  reading  in  thought  (~nmn)  was  practiced  by  the  learned 
only  when  defiled,  till  cleansed  by  bath  or  douche;  Berachoth, 
ch.  3.  §  4- 

23Ib.,  ch.  2,  §  3,  and  T.  B.  Berachoth,  150  and  b,  where  Ps.  68: 
14,  is  wildly  distorted  to  favor  those  who  read  the  Shema  distinctly. 

•4T.  B.  ib.,  310,  where  i  Sam.  i:  13,  is  analyzed.  But  the  Orah 
Hayim,  §  101,  subs.  2,  says,  he  who  prays  should  whisper  loud 
enough  for  his  own  ears. 

"Orah  Hayim,  §  101,  subs.  2,  as  a  D"»31K  !?';  an  annotator  warns 
against  raising  the  voice  too  much  even  then. 

"The  response  in  the  Kaddish,  "Amen,  be  his  great  name,  etc.," 


AY;  TES 


423 

For  the  response. 


is  the  most  sacred;  T.  B.   Berachoth,  30,  2ib. 
"Give  thanks,"  see  T.  B.  on  Succa,  ch.  3,  §  g. 

"The  air  of  "nj  73  is  too  well  known  to  be  here  reproduced. 
As  two  examples  we  give  here  the  short  quatrain  ]VV  '^K  in  the 
dirge  for  the  Ninth  of  Ab  and  the  tune  with  which  the  benedic- 
tions before  and  after  the  Shema  on  the  Memorial  and  Atonement 
days  are  closed  in  the  evening  service. 


E  -  li    tzi  -on   v'     o  -  re  -  ho    k'  mo   i  -  sho  !>'    tzi  -  re -ho  v 

i~* 

-F3 


chi-Vsn-lo   lni-";u-ras    sak      ul ba  -  al      n'u  -  re  -ho. 


MKnown  asr\n-n;«nn.  "Pleasant  singing"  on  Sabbath  and  Festi- 
vals is  recommended  in  the  German-Polish  annotations  of  the 
Orah  Hayim,  to  be  applied  to  the  nn'OT,  "musical  parts,"  i.  e., 
Psalms,  Red  Sea  Song,  and  the  poetic  insertions  in  11N  "U.T ;  see 
N'0-l  to  §  281.  The  Sefardic  text  in  §  51,  4,  5,  reckons  a  pleasant 
voice  among  the  qualifications  of  the  leader,  adding  that,  if  a  man 
cannot  be  found  with  all  the  qualifications,  the  most  learned  and 
virtuous  in  the  community  be  chosen;  but  R.  Moses  Isserles,  know- 
ing the  weakness  of  his  Polish  countrymen  for  fine  singing,  holds 
that,  between  an  old  ignorant  man  with  a  fine  voice  and  a  boy  of 
thirteen,  without  voice,  who  understands  what  he  says,  the  latter 
should  be  preferred. 

29Orah  Hayim,  §  53,  warns  the  leader  against  dwelling  long  on 
words  only  in  order  to  show  his  good  voice.  The  gloss,  "Magen 


424      JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Abraham,"  on  §  529  (Rules  of  Rosh  Hashana),  warns  him  against 
keeping  up  the  services  beyond  noon  by  fine  singing.  In  the 
very  modern  work,  D1K  "H,  §§  29,  30,  the  Cantor  who  sings  to 
show  his  voice  is  called  disgraced,  and  a  Biblical  rebuke  is  at- 
tached to  one  who  spends  time  on  chanting.  Girls  were,  of  course, 
excluded  from  the  old-fashioned  Meshorerim,  and  are  even  now  in 
orthodox-  congregations  not  admitted  into  the  choirs  singing 
modern  music;  the  soprano  and  contralto  parts  being  sung  by  the 
boys  of  still  unbroken  voices.  This  is  not  done  because  woman  is 
unworthy  to  take  part  in  public  service;  for  it  has  been  held 
that  even  women  and  children  may  be  called  to  the  desk  to  read 
the  Law,  if  there  are  not  seven  men  present  able  to  do  so  (Orah 
Hayim,  §  282),  but  because  ni"i>'  ni?JO  ^Ip,  a  woman's  voice  arouses 
passion  (T.  B.  Berachoth,  240).  The  writer  thinks  that  giving 
to  a  large  choir  of  Jewish  girls  an  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted at  least  with  the  responsive  parts  of  the  service  would 
outweigh  this  objection;  indeed,  it  has  hardly  any  force,  unless 
there  are  solo  parts,  and  these,  except  for  the  leader  or  Cantor, 
are  wholly  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  Jewish  services.  Many  of  the 
strictly  orthodox  object  to  any  trained  choir,  because  it  prevents 
the  worshippers  from  joining  in  the  responses.  They  may,  of 
course,  join  in  low  tones;  but  they  hate  to  have  their  voices 
drowned  by  hired  singers,  often  Gentiles,  who  have  no  heart 
in  the  words  uttered.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Jewish  choral  music 
took  its  rise  in  Catholic  Vienna,  rather  than  in  Protestant  North 
Germany,  where  it  might  have  followed  the  Lutheran  usage  of 
simple  airs,  set  in  only  two  parts,  in  which  the  whole  congregation 
is  trained  to  join  from  their  earliest  schooldays  up.  Yet  with  all 
its  intricacies,  the  music  of  Sulzer  and  of  his  northern  successors, 
such  as  Weintraub  and  Lewandowski,  arouses  a  religious  feeling 
in  the  hearers  just  as  the  Lutheran  '"Gesangbuch"  does.  The 
so-called  "musical  services"  in  many  American  Synagogues,  made 
up  of  operatic  pieces.  Catholic  masses,  and  other  nondescript 
matter,  cannot  be  criticised  at  all  from  a  religious  standpoint,  as  it 
is  usually  arranged  by  some  Gentile  organist  without  any  view  to 
religious  effect.  From  the  standpoint  of  art  it  is  bad  enough;  for 
according  to  Wagner's  great  rule,  all  the  elements  of  art  perform- 
ance should  go  hand  in  hand;  and  a  Jewish  Temple  is  hardly  the 
proper  background  for  Lohengrin  or  for  Rossini's  Stabat  Mater. 

30Mishna  Berachoth,  ch.  2,  §  i,  as  explained  in  the  Talmud, 
demands  attention  to  what  is  read,  not  intention  to  fulfill  the  com- 
mand. Ibid.,  §  4:  Workmen  on  a  tree  or  wall  may  stay  there  and 
read  the  She-mo.;  ''which  they  may  not  do  with  the  Prayer."  Maimo- 


NOTES 


425 


nides,  in  the  Jad  Hahazaka,  rules  on  Reading  the  Shema,  requires 
stoppage  of  work  and  attention  for  all  of  the  first  paragraph. 

31Ib.,  ch.  4,  §  4;  ch.  5,  §  i;  Aboth,  ch.  2,  §  18.  In  the  Talmud  on 
the  first-named  passage  there  is  an  opinion  that  the  rule  is  violated, 
if  the  worshipper  does  not  add  requests  of  his  own  to  the  customary 
form  of  words;  but  this  view  has  never  taken  root. 

32Berachoth,  ch.  4,  §  i.  Morning  Prayer  till  noon;  Musaf  all 
day;  Minha  till  dark;  evening  Prayer  all  night. 

33  A  Baraitha  in  T.  B.  Berachoth,  346. 

"Mishna  Sota,  ch.  8,  §  i.  This  has  already  been  treated  in  the 
first  book  of  this  work. 

36T.  B.  Berachoth,  316,  in  a  passage  already  quoted;  based  on 
Hannah's  answer  to  Eli.  Query:  Was  the  strong*language  of  the 
Rabbis  based  on  what  they  heard  of  heathen  orgies,  or  about  the 
Agape? 

"Mishna,  ib.,  ch.  3,  §  5.  The  Talmud  on  this  section  discusses 
the  matter  more  fully  than  modern  taste  would  permit. 

37Ib.,  ch.  9,  §  4;  T.  B.,  ib.,  136. 

"Berachoth.  ch.  2,  §i. 

39Ib.,  ch.  4,  §  i. 

40Orah  Hayim,  §§  66,  102;  §51,  subs.  3. 

41Ibid.,  §  146,  comp.  above  Note  5.  Unfortunately  there  are  many 
interludes  in  the  proceedings,  when  the  matter  spoken  by  the 
reader  or  the  leader  is  not  such  as  to  command  any  one's  devout 
attention,  and  here  free  conversation  creeps  in. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   TROPE 
(Pp.  308-311) 

'The  accents  can  be  found  with  full  explanations  of  their  rank 
in  every  good  Hebrew  grammar,  such  as  that  of  Gesenius  in  its 
various  editions. 

2The  whole  is  known  as  Zarka;  it  begins,  Zarka  Segol,  and  ends, 
Jethib  Pesik  Sof  Pasuk. 

3The  music  below  for  the  trope  of  Parsha  and  Haftara  in  the 
German  Ritual  is  taken  (with  omission  of  the  rarer  accents  and 
combinations)  from  A.  Baer's  Baal  T'fillah,  Gothenburg,  1877,  Nos. 
105  and  106,  in  each  case  the  first  of  three  variations,  which  he  gives 
in  parallel  lines.  The  phrases  which  cannot  well  follow  each  other, 
but  of  which  one  is  a  substitute  or  variation  of  the  other,  are 
marked  in  the  usual  way  by  double  heavy  bar-lines. 


426       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Zar  -  ko  se   -   gol  Mu- 

Parshyoth.     I  KV)     &-j~ 


Haphtoroth. 


nali 


— * — (^ f— ' — ~+-  -, 

!-- r- 1 1-^ 1 1 1 1 |-_rf 1-=) 

-— •— *=j-=j— F* — «-*-*-• — 


Mu-uah  re-vi    -     a  Mah- 


pach  pashto      Zo-kef     ko-ton     Zo  -  kef   go  -  dol      Mer- 


cho     Tif-ho      Mu  -  nah       es    -  nah  -    to        Po 


EJSE 


/,er 

3 


T'  li-slio      k'  ta   -   noh 


atr 


NOTES 


427 


o 

T'  li  -sho  g'  do  -  loh 


Kadmo  v'  az  -  lo 


—2- 

Az-lo      ge 


—T—3— 
rpsh  Gershayim 


g-«— -a- — x "*-» 1 


Dar        -        -        go  t'vir 

:5^^^-J3Ep^EE 

*-«-^-g—  0— '  '— 0— I 


:4=n=:£z: 


siv        P'sik 


Sof       po 


suk. 


^I=r==I=4£3q^s ^_ 

F       =r ^i±i 


1 i 


Mer      -    cho      tif 


lio         sof  po  -  suk. 
ifc~rj  ___«_wzzi^z: 


—     -fctr 

— ™ 


428       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Mr.  Baer  gives,  in  connection  with  the  trope  of  the  Germans,  in 
Nos.  117-123  certain  passages  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  under  Nos. 
124-138  certain  passages  in  the  Book  of  Esther,  which  have  tradi- 
tionally their  peculiar  tunes  (WJ>'3). 

The  following  music  (Sefardic)  for  the  Haftara  and  the  first 
verse  of  Lamentations  is  also  taken  from  A.  Baer's  Baal  T'fillah 
(Nos.  938  and  940),  and  credited  by  him  to  an  older  work  by  O. 
Aguilar.  The  Canto  D'Israele,  'published  at  Livorno,  in  its  version 
of  the  Sefardic  trope,  differs  materially  from  that  below,  but  agrees 
with  it  in  its  general  character. 


— NF-5i-«-— F^^^RF+F^^RF 

FEE*±*&£fe  EHHEEEgS^BE 

Mu   nah,         Ho  -   lech, 


Zar    -    ka 


•V- 

Se  -  gol 


R'    bi     -    a.       Mah  -  pach,          Pash  -  ta,  Zakef  katon. 


Za-kef  Ga  -  dol M  ercha. 


Et-uah-ta.     Pa  -  zer. 


T'  li-shak'ta-na. 


yim Ge  -  resh Dar-ga Te  -  bir 


Y'     tih  P'    sik         Sof  pa  -  suk, 


sof     pa   -  suk. 


NO  TKS 


429 


E  -  cha 


ya-sh'ba    ba-dad      ha-ir    rab-ba-ti  am   ha-y' 


-•--- 


:=l— rv^-=— A-F-A— N— A— N-1!"- 


=tzzzV=t=H=! 
ta       k'   al-ma  -  na 


-N— gi-X- 


— » — g —  ZZCH" 


^zfziztztitzzzizzit 


rab  -  ba  -  ti  ba-go-yim        sa  - 

zsz: 


ra    -    ti 


batn-di  -  uot 


ha  -  y'     ta       la  -  mas. 


'Professor  Petermann  wrote  for  volume  5  of  the  Zeitschrift  dcr 
dcutschcn  morgcnlandischcn  Gescllschaft  an  account  of  the  old  Church 
music  of  the  Armenians,  showing  it  to  have  a  notation  greatly 
analogous  to  that  of  the  trope;  that  is,  not  single  notes,  but  larger 
or  shorter  phrases.  Prof.  Paul  Haupt  (now  of  Johns  Hopkins)  has 
also  made  researches  into  the  origin  of  the  trope. 

BT.  B.  Megilla,  320.  The  author  of  the  saying,  R.  Johanan,  is  of 
the  first  generation  of  Western  Emoraim;  that  is,  an  immediate 
disciple  of  R.  Judah,  the  Patriarch.  See  also  T.  J.  on  Megilla,  ch. 
4,  §  i,  where  it  is  claimed  that  the  "giving  the  sense,"  spoken  of  in 
Neh.  8:  8,  was  done  by  reading  the  Pentateuch  with  the  proper 
intonation. 


CHAPTER  III 

FRINGES   AND    PHYLACTERIES 
(Pp.  312-317) 

'Berachoth,  ch.  3,  §  3,  as  to  phylacteries.  In  case  of  the  fringes, 
the  words  of  the  Law,  "ye  shall  see  them,"  is  relied  on  as  showing 
that  they  were  not  required  at  night.  T.  B.  Menahoth,  436. 

2Menahoth,  ch.  4.  §  i,  says,  the  lack  of  the  sky-blue,  known  as 
does  not  hinder  the  use  of  the  white  threads;  then  already 
the  sky-blue  threads  were  scarce  and  dear.  T.  B.  Menahoth,  440. 
As  explained  there,  one  or  two  threads  of  those  making  the  fringe 
were  to  be  sky-blue.  The  thread  of  that  color  is  part  of  the  fringe. 
Maimonides,  in  Hilchoth  Tzitzith,  speaks  of  the  blue  threads  as 
if  they  were  then  in  use,  though  they  were  not. 


430       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

3T.  B.  Menahoth,  420,  as  to  S'lJ. 

4T.  B.  Berachoth,  6o&.  Observing  Israelites  wear  a  small  four- 
cornered  cloth,  with  a  hole  cut  out  for  the  head,  at  all  times. 
Before  putting  this  on,  the  benediction  is  spoken,  in  a  modified 
form. 

SI.  M.  Jost,  Geschichte  dcs  Judenthums,  VoL  II,  p.  307,  is  the  writer's 
authority  for  the  Karaitic  custom. 

*T.  B.  Berachoth,  47^,  and  elsewhere. 

'Shabbath,  ch.  6,  §  i :  fi13£31B  for  women's  head-bands. 

8Maimonides,  in  Hilchoth  Tefillin,  4  chapters,  gives  these  and  a 
great  many  more  details.  The  more  modern  Codes  agree  with 
him  almost  literally.  Among  these  details  is  a  regular  W  and  a 
four-headed  ty,  which  are  worked  into  the  box  of  the  phylactery 
for  the  head,  to  show  the  direction;  the  former  being  on  the  right, 
the  latter  on  the  left  of  the  wearer,  and  the  strap  is  put  throuerh  the 
loops  accordingly. 

"Hilchoth  Tefillin,  ch.  4,  §  10.  In  the  notes  to  this  is  found  a 
discussion  between  Ra,bbis  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries, 
whether  phylacteries  are  to  be  worn  on  the  Middle  Days,  as  the 
Unleavened  Bread  and  the  Hut  should  be  sign  enough.  R.  Simha. 
author  of  the  Mahzor  Vitry,  claims  they  should  be  worn  on  the 
Middle  Days,  on  the  strength  of  T.  J.  on  Moed  Katan,  ch.  3,  §  4, 
where  leave  was  given  during  such  days  to  write  phylacteries  for 
one  who  lost  them,  though  only  pressing  work  should  be  done  on 
those  days.  Hence,  the  German  Jews  generally  lay  Tefillin  on 
Middle  Days,  while  the  Sefardim  and  the  Hasidim  do  not.  But 
before  Musaf  on  middle  days  of  the  Passover  and  on  New  Moons 
the  phylacteries  are  removed,  and  on  the  middle  days  of  the  Feast 
of  Huts,  before  Hallel.  As  to  Sabbath  and  true  Festivals,  see 
Shabbath,  ch.  6,  §  2,  and  T.  B.  Menahoth,  366. 

1(T.  B.  Menahoth,  426,  gives  the  benedictions;  the  verses  were 
chosen  long  after. 

"Maimonides,  in  Hilchoth  Tefillin,  ch.  5,  §  4,  speaks  from  this 
standpoint,  when  he  denounces  those  who  scribble  the  names  of 
angels  and  other  Cabbalistic  nonsense  upon  the  Mestizo  (parchment 
strip  with  the  two  paragraphs  from  Deuteronomy  for  the  door- 
post), thus  degrading  the  highest  expression  of  faith  and  love 
into  a  ;"3p  (Amulet). 

12Megilla,  ch.  i,  §  8;  ch.  4,  §  8. 

13T.  B.  Berachoth,  146. 

14Cmp.  ib.,  230,  and  following  pages. 

15T.  B.  Menahoth,  34-36. 

'"The  Codes  of  Alfassi,  of  Maimonides,  the  Turim  (Toledo,  thir- 


NO  TES 


431 


teenth  century),  and  the  Shulhan  Aruch,  all  speak  of  the  Tefillin 
as  a  live  custom. 

"According  to  T.  B.  Menahoth,  346,  350,  the  order  is  not 
material,  so  long  as  the  two  paragraphs  that  ought  to  be  on  the 
outside  are  on  the  outside,  and  the  other  two  in  the  middle. 

18T.  B.  Menahoth,  43^,  and  see  the  pretty  story  about  the  man 
whom  a  glance  at  his  fringes  saved  from  sin,  and  led  thus  to  the 
conversion  and  reformation  of  a  fair  sinner,  ib.,  440. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CEREMONIES    ON   YEARLY    OCCASIONS 
(Pp.  318-326) 

'Megilla,  ch.  4,  §  7;  T.  B.  Berachoth,  326;  T.  B.  Menahoth. 
1090.  Baraitha,  in  T.  B.  Kerithoth,  2&b,  excludes  the  drunken 
man  on  the  ground  of  Lev.  10:  8.  Lack  of  piety  or  learning  does 
not  disqualify  (Hilchoth  Tefllla,  ch.  15,  §  6),  for  God  blesses 
(Num.  6:  27),  not  the  priest. 

2T.  B.  Sota,  39,  seems  not  to  demand  a  special  washing  for  the 
occasion,  but  it  is  so  construed  by  Rashi.  Maimonides,  in  the  chap- 
ter cited,  does  not  demand  such  washing,  nor  removal  of  shoes. 
The  removal  of  "sandals"  is  among  the  institutions  of  Rabban 
Johanan  ben  Zaccai;  T.  B.  Sota,  400;  but,  as  is  there  explained,  it 
was  not  intended  as  a  token  of  respect,  but  only  because  the  loosen- 
ing of  the  straps  might  lead  to  disturbance.  The  washing  by 
Levites  is  an  invention  of  the  Zohar  on  Num.  6:  22-27.  See  Orah 
Hayim,  §  128,  for  these  and  other  rules  observed;  and  see  T.  B. 
Berachoth,  55&,  for  prayer  after  a  troubling  dream.  A  prayer  by 
and  for  the  priests  that  their  blessing  may  be  pure  and  effective 
(T.  B.  Sota,  40)  has  been  given  in  Bk.  II,  ch.  vi. 

3This  usage,  unknown  to  the  Talmud,  seems  a  survival  of  the 
fasts  for  rain. 

4Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  4,  §§  5,  6,  7,  9.  R.  Gamaliel  says:  The 
messenger  of  the  congregation — by  blowing  the  horn — relieves  the 
others  of  their  duty.  Hence,  to  hear  the  Shofar  is  enough;  so  T.  B. 
on  same,  320,  and  the  benediction,  "to  hear  the  sound,  etc.,"  is 
correct. 

5Seder  R.  Amram  speaks  of  the  "sitting  sounds,"  and  distin- 
guishes by  initials  Iff  and  1  and  ~v'W,  between  the  two  single  alarms 
and  the  compound  alarm,  "and"  gives  the  benedictions  in  full,  not 
quoting  authority  for  the  latter,  but  stating  that  R.  Abbahu,  at 


432       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Caesarea,  introduced  the  three  modes  of  alarm.  Abudraham,  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  still  quotes  the  Jer.  Talmud  for  the  benediction. 
As  the  copies  thereof  now  in  use  are  but  a  fragment,  they  may  be, 
and  probably  are,  right  in  their  quotations. 

"Still  unknown  to  R.  Amram,  who  starts  the  evening  service 
right  after  Neila.  Mahzor  Vitry:  He  blows  one  i"l>"pr\  in  memory 
of  the  Jubilee. 

7In  Succa,  ch.  3,  §  4,  R.  Ishmael  gives  the  numbers  of  each  kind; 
his  rule  prevails  now  against  R.  Akiba's  dissent;  §  8,  the  bunch 
tied  with  its  own  kind;  §  9,  when  to  shake  it  during  Hallel;  §12,  it 
was  taken  in  the  Temple  seven  days,  in  the  country  only  on  the 
first;  at  Jabne  Johanan  ben  Zacca'i  made  the  rule  to  take  it  seven 
days  everywhere,  in  remembrance  of  the  Temple.  For  mode  of 
shaking,  see  T.  B.  Succa,  376. 

sSucca,  ch.  4,  §  5,  tells  of  the  circuits  round  the  altar,  one  each 
on  six  days  of  the  Feast,  seven  on  the  seventh  day;  willow  bunches 
were  carried  in  these;  §  6,  the  children  ate  their  citrons;  §  9,  the 
water  poured  from  a  golden  basin  amidst  cornet  sounds;  ch.  5,  §  i, 
speaks  of  the  V/n,  or  concerted  music  of  the  middle  days  of  the 
Feast,  known  as  the  music  of  the  Water  Fetching  House:  "who  has 
not  seen  this  pleasure,  never  has  seen  pleasure."  Ch.  5,  §  4,  the 
leading  pious  men  dance,  carrying  torches,  and  sing;  the  Levites 
play  on  harps,  trumpets,  and  cymbals;  the  people  glory  in  their 
faithfulness  to  God;  for  they  look  westward  to  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
while  their  idolatrous  fathers  looked  eastward  to  the  rising  sun. 
Some  slight  compensation  for  the  lack  of  ceremony  is  made  by 
reading  the  Sabbath  hymns  in  the  morning  (Psalms  19,  34,  90,  91, 
US.  :36,  33,  92,  93)  and  reciting  the  Kedusha  in  the  Additional  in 
its  fuller  form.  The  concerted  music  was  omitted  in  the  Temple 
when  this  day  fell  on  a  Sabbath.  Succa,  ch.  5,  §  i.  A  Yemen  MS., 
lately  published,  speaks  of  an  old  custom  of  moving  the  Ark  for 
the  day  into  the  middle  of  the  Synagogue,  better  to  represent  the 
circuits  round  the  altar. 

"Abudraham  knows  nothing  of  all  this  merriment;  he  has  only 
five  men  called  to  read  the  portion  just  as  on  other  festivals,  but 
remarks,  that  the  one  who  finishes  the  Tora  and  he  who  begins  it 
again  give  banquets  to  their  kinsmen  and  friends.  The  Mahzor 
Vitry  already  calls  those  who  finish  and  recommence  bridegrooms, 
and  allots  to  them  the  honor  of  rolling  each  his  scroll  and  carrying 
it  in  his  arm;  but  the  fun  of  unlimited  calls  and  repeated  reading  of 
the  same  few  verses  is  still  unknown,  and  so  is  the  procession  with 
the  scrolls  and  flags.  The  frolic  with  the  scroll  in  the  evening  is 
avowedly  a  triumph  of  popular  tastes  over  Rabbinic  scruples. 


NOTES  433 

BOOK  V 

THE  JEWISH   HOME 
CHAPTER  I 

MINIAN    AT    THE    HOUSE 
(Pp.  329-333) 

'-No  authority  for  the  anniversaries  can  be  found  in  any  of  the 
great  standards;  the  Shulhan  Aruch,  as  far  as  I  can  find,  does  not 
mention  it  at  all.  Other  modern  writers  have  not  been  more  suc- 
cessful than  myself  in  finding  authorities.  However,  prayer  books 
with  "rules"  (DTI)  like  that  of  f'"3j.",  the  Rabbi  of  Lissa,  not  only 
mention  the  Jahrzeit,  but  recommend  fasting  on  such  days.  The 
eleven  months  are  put  by  R.  Moses  Isserles  in  a  note  on  Jorc 
De'a,  §  621,  on  the  ground  that  a  son  should  not  suppose  that  his 
parent  was  wicked,  so  that  his  soul  would  be  in  trouble  for  twelve 
months. 

~T.  J.  on  Moed  Katan,  ch.  3,  §  5;  on  the  basis  of  the  kindred 
at  whose  burial  a  Cohen  may  defile  himself  (Lev.  ch.  21).  The  wife 
is  implied  there  by  the  exclusion  of  a  married  sister;  and  so  is  the 
husband,  at  least  for  the  purpose  of  mourning. 

sBerachoth,  ch.  3,  §  i  (before  burial,  the  time  known  as 
flU'JK).  As  to  mourners  proper  (after  burial),  T.  B.  Moed  Katan, 
210. 

4Moed  Katan,  ch.  3,  §  5.  The  seven  days  are  by  the  Talmud  on 
this  section  derived  from  Amos  8:  10:  "I  will  turn  your  feasts  into 
mourning,"  the  feasts  being  seven  days,  and  adds:  There  are 
three  days  for  weeping.  And  by  the  letter  of  the  Tora  there  is 
only  one  day  of  strict  mourning,  as  shown  by  Aaron's  words,  Lev. 
10:  19:  "Should  I  eat  sin-offering  to-day?"  and  so  Amos  says,  in 
8:  10,  further:  "And  its  end  like  a  bitter  day."  See  T.  B.  Moed 
Katan,  16-19. 

6Moed  Katan,  ch.  3,  §  6;  so  held  T.  B.  on  same,  190,  in  accord- 
ance with  R.  Gamaliel's  opinion. 

°T.  B.  Kethuboth,  8a.  Form  just  as  in  modern  service  books. 
Although  the  miro,  or  written  contract,  which  is  read  by  the 
minister  after  the  betrothal  and  before  the  seven  benedictions  is 
28 


434       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

not  an  act  of  worship,  its  opening  sentences  may  be  inserted  here 
as  a  curiosity:  "At  (such  a  place)  on  (such  a  day)  said  A  son  of 
B  to  the  maiden  C  daughter  of  D:  Be  thou  my  wife,  and  I  will 
serve  and  honor,  feed,  care  for,  and  clothe  thee,  like  Jewish  men 
who  serve  and  honor,  feed,  care  for,  and  clothe  their  wives  faith- 
fully, etc." 

CHAPTER  II 

WHAT   CHILDREN    LEARN    FIRST 

(Pp.  334-338) 

\Aboth,  ch.  5,  §  24.  Bartenoro  comments  hereon,  that  the  letters 
have  been  taught  before. 

'T.  B.  Succa,  420,  a  Baraitha  with  Talmudic  additions. 

3Berachoth,  ch.  6,  §§  i,  2,  3;  T.  B.  on  same,  350. 

"Berachoth,  ch.  9,  §  2.  "At  the  sight  of  J'p'T,  i.  e.,  comets  and 
shooting  stars,  at  earthquakes,  lightnings  and  thunder,  one  says. 
"Blessed,  of  whose  power  the  world  is  full."  T.  B.  on  same,  sug- 
gests "Creator  of  the  work  of  the  beginning"  along  with  the  above; 
this  is  now  deemed  the  blessing  for  the  lightning,  the  former  for 
the  thunder. 

5T.  B.  Berachoth,  fob. 

"T.  B.  Berachoth,  50. 

7Ib.,  the  verse  being  explained:  the  first  word  1fJP,  "be  trou- 
bled," that  is,  set  your  good  impulse  at  war  against  the  evil  one; 
speak  to  your  heart,  i.  e.,  meditate  on  the  Law,  to  keep  down  sinful 
thoughts;  if  necessary,  think  of  silence,  i.  e.,  of  death. 

"See  for  these  responses  and  their  reasons  Bk.  II,  ch.  V. 

T.  B.  Shabbath,  2\b.  Shammai  taught  to  begin  with  eight  lights 
and  come  down  to  one;  the  opposite  rule,  now  in  vogue,  is  Hillel's. 
Those  living  on  the  ground  floor  used  to  put  their  lamps  before  the 
front  door,  those  living  in  an  upper  story  in  a  window.  The  date 
of  the  feast,  Kislev  251)1,  is  here  given;  also  its  origin  in  the 
Maccabean  victory  by  which  the  Temple  was  recovered.  Nothing 
is  said  about  benedictions;  but  the  first  one  is  implied  by  calling 
the  lighting  a  precept  (Hiy^),  which  makes  the  rule  in  Tosifta 
on  Berachoth,  ch.  6,  apply. 


NOTES  435 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    MEAL 
(Pp-  339-347) 

'Berachoth,  ch.  7,  §§  i,  2,  3.  The  following  section  (4)  holds  it 
improper  for  three,  four,  or  five,  or  for  ten  to  divide  into  groups 
when  saying  grace,  as  they  would  lose  the  privilege  of  the  address 
and  response,  or  of  God's  name  therein.  The  Talmud  on  this  chap- 
ter is  full  of  historic  illustrations  of  the  manner  and  form  of  the 
address,  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  King  Jannasus.  The  notion  of 
pronouncing  a  holier  and  fuller  name  of  God  in  the  address  when 
100  or  1,000  men  said  grace  together  was  dropped  through  the 
opposition  of  R.  Akiba,  ch.  7,  §  3.  The  custom  that  the  master  of 
the  house  always  "breaks  the  bread,"  i.e., says  the  short  grace  before 
the  meal,  while  a  guest  blesses  after  the  meal,  is  mentioned  T.  B. 
Berachoth,  460. 

2Berachoth,  ch.  6,  §  8,  speaks  of  three  benedictions,  taking  it  for 
granted,  that  these  are  spoken  after  a  meal  of  bread;  but  discusses 
whether  three  are,  or  an  abstract  of  three  is,  recited  after  figs, 
raisins,  etc.  As  to  mentioning  the  exodus,  the  covenant  of  our 
flesh,  and  the  gift  of  the  Law  in  the  second  benediction,  along 
with  "the  precious,  good,  and  wide  land,"  and  the  Kingdom  of 
David  in  the  third,  see  T.  B.  Berachoth,  s8b,  and  490,  and  reasons 
there  given.  The  authorship  of  the  first  three  benedictions  is 
ascribed  to  Moses,  Joshua,  and  David;  which  simply  means  that 
they  had  been  in  use  too  long  to  remember  their  origin. 

3T.  B.  Berachoth,  48^,  490.  The  refinement  about  omitting 
"King"  in  the  insertion  for  New  Moon  and  Festivals  is  suggested 
by  the  saying,  T.  B.  Berachoth,  48b:  One  Kingdom  does  not 
touch  the  other  as  much  as  a  hair's  breadth. 

4T.  B.  Berachoth,  486  (also  Taanith,  310,  and  Baba  Bathra, 
1210).  "On  the  day  that  the  slain  of  Bethar  were  given  burial, 
etc.;"  TDOm  31£3n  being  the  benediction  over  good  news.  The 
threefold  mention  of  God  as  King  is  part  of  the  original  draft,  to 
make  up  for  the  lack  of  God's  Kingship  in  the  preceding  benedic- 
tion. The  petitions  beginning  "The  Merciful"  are  not  mentioned 
in  the  Talmud.  Maimonides  has  three  such  petitions  in  the  short 
form  of  grace  which  he  puts  in  his  "Order  of  Prayer"  for  common 
use.  The  official  London  Prayer  Book  has  for  choice,  after  the 
usual  form,  one  even  shorter  than  that  of  Maimonides,  the  first 
benediction,  however,  unabridged,  the  second  with  thanks  for  all 


436     JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

the  things  required  as  above  in  the  Talmud,  and  "bread  in  plenty," 
the  third  seeking  mercy  for  "thy  people,  the  Kingdom  of  the 
House  of  David"  and  "the  glory  of  thy  temple,"  according  to  the 
traditional  requirements.  The  Seder  R.  .Amram.  at  the  end  of  the 
original  book,  has  a  special  grace  for  the  House  of  Mourning. 
The  address:  "Let  us  bless  the  Comforter  of  Mourners  from,  etc." 
(i)  and  (2)  rather  short,  but  with  no  reference  to  mourning.  (3) 
"Comfort,  O  Lord  our  God,  those  that  mourn,  the  mourners  for 
Zion  and  the  mourners  in  this  sad  case;  comfort  them  after  their 
grief,  gladden  them  after  their  sorrow,  as  it  is  said:  Like  a  man 
whom  his  mother  comforteth,  thus  I  shall  comfort  you,  and  in  Zion 
ye  shall  be  comforted.  Blessed,  etc.,  the  comforter  of  mourners  and 
builder  of  Jerusalem.  Amen."  In  (4)  is  inserted:  "The  God  of 
truth,  the  truthful  Judge  (the  words  of  the  common  benediction  on 
hearing  bad  news;  see  Berachoth,  ch.  9,  §  2),  the  righteous  Judge." 
The  London  Prayer  Book  is  the  only  one  now  in  general  use 
which  contains  for  mourners  special  forms;  they  are  substantially 
like  those  of  R.  Amram.  "Workmen  omit  the  fourth  benediction;" 
T.  B.  Berachoth,  460. 

5T.  J.  on  Berachoth,  ch.  7,  §  5  (4),  and  see  about  short  grace  for 
workmen,  ID.,  :6a.  That  the  benediction  before,  hence  also  grace 
after  bread,  include  all  other  food,  is  stated  in  T.  B.  Berachoth,  416. 

"Aboth,  ch.  3,  §  3. 

'Berachoth,  ch.  6,  §  6;  T.  B.  Berachoth,  510,  gives  all  the  rule^ 
for  the  "cup  of  blessing." 

ST.  B.  Kethuboth,  jb  and  8a;  see  here  the  modified  address  at 
weddings.  The  seven  benedictions  are  repeated  only  when  there 
is  a  new  face. 

T.    B.    Berachoth,    406. 

IvBerachoth,  ch.  6,  §  8;  T.  B.  thereon  (440)  gives  the  form.  The 
Palestinians  closed  this  grace  after  the  five  fruits:  "For  the  land 
and  its  fruits;"  the  Babylonians  could  not  join  them,  and  said: 
"For  the  land  and  the  fruits,"  as  is  the  common  custom  now. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SANCTIFICATION   AND   SEPARATION 
(I'p.  348-355) 

'Shabbath,  ch.  2,  is  taken  up  mainly  with  the  Sabbath  light;  see 
Bk.  II,  ch.  XV,  about  the  reading  of  this  chapter  on  Friday 
evening. 


NOTES 


437 


"Hillel  and  Shammai  were  already  disputing  which  benediction  to 
say  first;  Berachoth,  ch.  8,  §  i,  and  as  to  Passover  night,  Pesahim, 
ch.  10,  §  2.  The  order  of  the  thanks  for  Sabbath  and  for  Festival 
was  settled  by  Rabbi  Judah  the  Saint,  as  in  the  middle  benediction 
of  the  prayer;  T.  J.  on  Rosh  Hashana,  ch.  4,  §  7.  That  the  Sab- 
bath has  already  been  consecrated  before  Kiddush  is  made  over  the 
cup,  see  T.  B.  Berachoth,  52^  (on  ch.  8,  §  i). 

"There  was  an  opinion  that  the  "season"  should  be  thanked  for 
only  on  the  longer  feasts  (Passover  and  Huts);  but  the  view  pre- 
vailed that  it  must  be  done  on  all  yearly  sacred  days,  including 
Pentecost,  New  Year,  and  Atonement;  and  if  it  is  not  done  over 
the  cup,  anywhere,  even  on  the  street.  T.  B.  Erubin,  406.  Cmp., 
this  benediction  on  Day  of  Atonement,  Bk.  II,  ch.  XII.  The  three 
verses  from  Gen.  2  are  recommended  T.  B.  Shabbath,  ngb.  See 
Bk.  II,  ch.  IX,  note  2. 

'Known  by  the  initials  of  the  five  things  blessed  t'TT'lp'"1  (i.  e., 
wine,  sanctification,  lamp,  separation,  season) ;  the  fourth  benedic- 
tion is  analogous  to  that  in  the  Prayer;  see  Bk.  II,  ch.  IX.  Its 
full  text  is  not  found  in  the  Talmud;  but  see  T.  B.  Pesahim,  I02b- 
1050,  where  the  form  of  the  simple  and  of  the  compound  Habdala 
is  discussed;  the  number  of  pairs  distinguished  varying  from  3  to  7. 
The  order  of  the  five  benedictions  was  not  settled  till  the  days  of 
Abbaye  and  Raba,  of  the  fifth  generation  of  Emoraim.  The  idea  of 
separating  between  Holy  and  Holy  is  derived  from  the  vail  in  the 
Temple,  which  divided  between  the  Holy  and  the  Holy  of  Holies. 
"T.,  B.  Berachoth,  330.  Light  and  spices  are  named  in  the 
Mishna,  ch.  8,  §  5,  by  Hillel,  in  this  order:  Light,  meal,  spices, 
separation.  It  seems  that  separation  in  the  Prayer  was  not  yet  in 
use,  and  the  Habdala  was  intertwined  with  grace  after  the  Sabbath 
afternoon  meal. 

"T.  B.  Sanhedrin,  410,  enjoins  the  duty,  and  the  benediction  is 
given,  420.  The  late  treatise  Soferim,  ch.  19,  §  9,  adds  a  number  of 
verses  and  phrases,  more  like  incantations  than  prayers.  The 
Bara'itha  commending  the  duty,  ascribed  to  the  "school  of  R. 
Ishmael,"  is  also  recited  as  part  of  the  ceremony;  also  Psalms  121 
("I  lift  my  eyes,  etc.")  and  67.  Soferim,  ch.  20,  §  I,  names  .Satur- 
day night  as  the  proper  time. 

7Tosifta  on  Berachoth,  ch.  6. 


438       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    PASSOVER    NIGHT 
(Pp.  356-367) 

'Pesahim,  ch.  10  (almost  all  of  it),  views  not  prevailing  left  out. 
T.  J.  on  §  2  derives  the  four  cups  from  the  four  verbs  in  the  promise 
of  delivering,  Ex.  6:  6,  7;  so  does  Midrash  Rabba  on  Gen.,  ch.  88. 
Other  explanations  are  given  in  both  places;  the  above  alone  is 
popularly  known. 

"T.  J.  on  Pesahim,  ch.  10,  §  4. 

"Kashi  drew  up  this  programme;  see  Mahzor  Vitry,  ad  locum. 
Older  sources  call  for  the  usual  benediction  at  the  first  hand- 
washing. 

4R.  Amram  has  it  without  comment,  but  says,  "move  the  table 
before  the  master,"  not  lift  the  dish;  and  quotes  from  T.  B.  Pesa- 
him how  this  is  done  to  arouse  the  child's  curiosity.  "If  his  child 
is  smart,  he  will  ask;  if  not,  his  wife  should  ask  him;  if  she  does 
not,  he  should  ask  himself." 

5T.  J.  on  Pesahim,  ch.  10,  §  4.  Here  is  also  the  explanation  of 
the  two  pieces  of  roast  meat,  both  on  the  Passover  dish,  one  to 
represent  the  "lamb,"  the  other  the  Hagiga,  or  Feast  offering. 

°T.  B.  Pesahim,  1160,  gives  a  dispute  which  of  these  passages 
meets  the  requirement  to  begin  with  reproach  and  end  with  praise. 
Probably  both  were  already  in  use. 

~T.  B.  Pesahim,  1150.     "In  memory  of  the  Temple  like  Hillel." 

sThe  Piyut  for  the  second  night  (nD3  T13f  Dn"OX))is  part  of  those 
for  the  morning  service  of  that  day,  in  the  repetition  of  the  Prayer. 
Neither  this  nor  any  of  the  other  poetic  pieces  has  an  acrostic 
betraying  the  author's  name. 

"So  Zunz  in  his  Gottesdienstliche  Vortrdge. 

"'Abudraham  indicates  this  insertion  by  its  first  words,  only  to 
reject  it.  The  writer  found  it  in  a  publication  of  a  Yemen  Haggada, 
by  Dr.  Win.  II.  Greenburg,  London,  1896.  This  Haggada  is  ac- 
companied by  legendary  comment;  which  is  probably  used  by 
fathers  in  Yemen  at  the  table,  in  order  to  render  the  story  more 
interesting  to  their  households. 


INDEXES 


SERVICES   FOR  THE  SABBATH 
I.    FRIDAY  EVENING 

PAGE 

Psalms  95-99,  29   ..........    ............  ,88 

Song:  Lccha  Dodi  ...................  2.,, 

Psalms  92,  93                ....................  ,88 

Mourners'  Kactdish     ................    107  iOg 

Address  and  Response   ..............    ....  105 

Benedictions  before  Shema  ................  89 

She  ma—  three  paragraphs    ...............  go 

Benedictions  after  Shema     .    .    .    .  '  ............  ni 

Verses  on  Sabbath  ....................  190 

Half  Kaddisk  ......................  IO7 

AM  iff  a,  or  Prayer  (silent),  /.  e. 

Three  Constant  Benedictions   ........    .....  112 

Middle  Benediction     .    .    ...........    .    .    141,  140 

Three  Constant  Benedictions   ......  •  .    ......  116 

Summary  of  Seven  .............    .......  142 

Complete  Kaddish  ....................  107 

Study: 

Ch.  2  of  Shabbath    ..................  196 

B  ami  f  ha  on  Peace  ....       .............  196 

Alenu  (prayer  for  the  Kingdom)     ...........    156,214 

Mourners'  Kaddish     .................    107,  109 

II.    SATURDAY  MORNING 

(Including  the  "Additional") 

Yigdal  ............................  231 


Olain    ........................    232 

The  bed-room  Benedictions;  Benediction  over  study  and  short 

sample     .....................  203,  etc.,  194 

The  Litany     .......................    212 

Disputed  morning  Benediction,  with  reflection  on  Omnipotence, 

206,  etc.,  212 

(440 


442       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 

Study:  PAGK 

Passage  from  Pentateuch 193 

Chapter  of  Mishna  .    .    ., 193 

Baraitha 193 

Benediction  before  morning  hymns 207 

Morning  hymns,  including  nine  for  Sabbath  and  Feasts  .    .    .    183,  etc. 

Benediction  of  Song ' 208 

Half  Kaddish 107 

Address  and  Response       105 

Benediction  before  Sheina 95,  98 

Shcma — three  paragraphs     90 

Benediction  after  Shema 105 

A  mida,  or  Prayer  (silent),  /'.  e. 

Three  Constant  Benedictions 112 

Middle  Benediction  141,  140 

Three  Constant  Benedictions 116 

Repetition  of  the  Atnida  : 

Thrice-Holy 115 

Recital  of  the  Priestly  Blessing ,    .     118 

(Hallel  on  Middle  Days,  New  Moons,  and  Hanucca)   .    .    .  180-82 

Complete  Kaddish 109 

Verses  and  lines  before  and  while  the  scrolls  are  taken  from 

the  Ark  279-80 

Reading  the  Lesson  from  the  Pentateuch  to  seven  or  more, 

with  Benedictions .    261-4,  -&° 

Half  Kaddish       107 

Hagbaha  (raising  the  scroll) 280 

Lesson  from  the  Prophets,  wkh  Benedictions 265-75 

Prayer  for  the  Sages,  the  Congregation,  the  Government     .  215-18 
(Blessing  of  the  Month,  on  Sabbath  before  New  Moon)    .        218 

Remembrance  of  the  Martyrs 219 

As/ire  (Ps.  145,  etc.)    .        79,  182 

Verses  on  returning  the  scroll  to  the  Ark 282 


THE   "ADDITIONAL" 

Half  Kaddish 107 

A inida,  or  Prayer  (silent),  /'.  c. 

Three  Constant  Benedictions 112 

Middle  Benediction  140,  149 

Three  Constant  Benedictions 116 


INDEXES 


443 


Repetition  of  foe.  Amida  :  PAGE 

Thrice-Holy    .    .  115 

Recital  of  the  Priestly  Blessing 118 

Complete  Kaddish 109 

En  Kelohenu  221 

Baraltha  on  Incense,  on  Daily  Psalms,  and  on  Peace  ....    195 

A lenu  (prayer  for  the  Kingdom; 156,214 

Mourners'  Kaddish 107,  109 

(Song  of  Unity,  Song  of  Glory,  and  Mourners'  Kaddish},  229,  234 

"Psalm  for  the  Day,"  (92)     188 

Mourners'  Kaddish  107,  109 

III.    AFTERNOON  SERVICE  (Minha] 

Ashre 79,  182 

U-Ba  le- Tzion  (A  Redeemer  will  come) 187,214 

Half  Kaddish       107 

Verses  on  taking  out  the  scroll 189,  278 

Reading  to  three  men          .  .    .    . 264 

Hagbaha  and  verses  on  returning  the  scroll 280,  282 

Half  Kaddish   ...  107 

Ainida,  or  Prayer  (silent),  i.  e. 

Three  Constant  Benedictions 112 

Middle  Benediction          14°*  H2 

Three  Constant  Benedictions 116 

Repetition  of  the  A  mida  : 

Thrice-Holy "5 

Complete  Kaddish •        107 

A  lenu  (prayer  for  the  Kingdom) 156.214 

Mourners'  Kaddish 107,  109 


INDEX   TO   THE   REFERENCES   TO   THE 
SCRIPTURES 

(Italics  for  the  page  numbers  indicate  passages  quoted  in  the  book,  but  not  neces- 
sarily from  the  liturgy ;  Roman  type  indicates  those  occurring  in  the  liturgy.) 


GENESIS 

T  •    I         2'  1 

PAGE 
.    2SS 

EXODUS  (continued) 

IT.'   Q 

PAGE 
406 

i-  16 

.     07 

iv  11-16  . 

.    lid 

I  •  31  —  2*2 

.  ^4Q 

IV  14 

.    ^60 

f   1  -  1 

.  141.  14.2 

J  -!•    J7  JC-    26 

.  2S4 

.  414 

14    . 

184. 

y-  i       

ICQ 

14-   IO-2I     

c?     ySd 

14'  ^O    Vi   . 

184-1; 

i  ^  '  i  . 

11^ 

15     

.     .     82 

T  r  •    r  l      IA 

•}6i 

15-  i-iS     

185 

17 

.     IS* 

1C-    II 

Q2       I  O2 

18-  2 

.    .    .    .  181 

is:  18     .    .  92,  102,  IS7. 

184,  187 

21           

2S4 

15-26     

110.  ^^6 

22                     .... 

.  2S4 

17-  8-16     

2s6 

27'  28    2Q 

I  QI 

IQ 

.  2S4 

28'  1    A. 

IQI 

IQ:  i-2S     

.    .    6f 

12  '  2Q 

.    ?<?? 

160 

48-  16 

IQ2     ^6 

20       

.  2S4 

A  Q  '    I  S 

-2-16 

2O'   II       ...          .     .     .     . 

.  2I"l 

AQ'  2S     26  . 

.    IQI-2 

20:  18    

.  161 

.  2SS 

2Q'  6    Q   . 

.  42  1 

^O    . 

.  406 

I  •    i  A       

.  162 

30'  1  1-16  

.  2S7 

2'  24 

.    .  1  1  'i,  r  SQ 

1,1  '  l6    17 

iqo.  V^4 

VI          

?£* 

T.2'    I  I-I4 

.  2s6 

•5  •    I  C 

.     .                    112 

1,2'  12 

.    .  186 

6-  s 

.   I  SQ 

12'  IT, 

6-67               ... 

.    .    .    48,  4v8 

.     47 

12'   I-2O 

2^7 

•  4O1 

\2'   2               .... 

CO 

M'  1-26 

.  2SS 

12:    14-51     .      .     .     . 

254 

34:  i-io     

•     •   256 

12:  26    t           .    . 

.   ^60 

-M-    C 

•     •  382 

12'  27       . 

.  162 

M:  6.  7  . 

.  279 

I  2'  2Q 

.   ^64 

12:   ^Q      

.   ^62 

13'  i-io             .    . 

13-  1-16         .    .    . 

.   2=;^ 

.    ?7C 

n:8. 

.  1S7.  ^60 

10:  iq    

.    .  41? 

(444) 


fNDEXES 


445 


LEVITICUS  (con 

'iniica) 

PA(iK 

DEUTERONOMY 

4>     A 

(continued) 

PACK 

16   

.    .     254,  258,  403 

4'    TO 

•     •     •        123,    192 

16:  21     ... 
16:  30    ... 
18  

146,  171,  174,  191 
•    •    •           .  2^=; 

4:  25-4O     .      . 

4:  20     . 

• 

21     

4'  i? 

•7-7X 

22:  26—23:44 
22:  29      .     .     . 

255 

4'   1Q 

180 

5-     T 

1o7 

23:  4  .    .    .    . 

•     .     .              IQI.    ?<SC 

c-  28 

189     Anft 

23:  5,  6,  10 
23:  15     ... 

.     .      211,  408,  409 

6:  4-q  . 

6-  7 

23:  16,  24,  27 
23:  32     ... 

60-1 

6'  2O    21 

75 
ifin 

C7 

6-  21 

if,? 

23:  34     ... 

7-78 

3OJ 

23:  40     ... 

.     .                                 722 

IX3 

23:  44     . 

.    .    .    .       iqi,  154 

J92 

26:  42     ... 

.     .      II'?,   ISQ,   I7O 

8'  10 

82 

26:  44     ... 

.  171 

9.  27 

26:  45     ... 

.    .    .    .      160,  171 

io'  17     ... 

NUMBERS 

II:  Ii 

.    76    yon 

ii:  13-21   .   . 

....    91    ?// 

15:6      ... 

192 

6:  2\ 

.    .    .  69,  118,  431 

15:  19—16:  17 
16:3      ... 

•    •    •      255,  258 

«4,  33" 

16:  9      ... 

408 

6.  27    ... 

or  A 

21:  13     ... 

331 



9:  1-14  .  . 

25t> 
•      •       255 

22'   12       ... 

.    3/2 

23:6         ... 

192 

•-,-« 

25:   17-19    .     . 

257 

Io-  35     •    •„   • 

27» 

26:5         ... 

356 

10.  36     ... 

26:   13      ... 

172 

17° 

26:   15       ... 

36l 

14.  17     ... 
14:  19     ... 

176 

27:  3-6,  8,  12 

192 

15:  26     ... 

15:  37-41    •    - 

.      -      .      .          176,    177 

91 

30:  3,  4  •    •    . 

47 

15:38     -    •    • 
19    

257 

30.  6       ... 
31:  io     .    .   , 

•    •    -      171,  172 
.    .    .      250,  406 

22:  32     ... 

23:  21       ... 
28     
28:  I-I5        .     . 

.    .        ....    93 
•    157 
•    •     193,  257,  258 
256 

32:  3       •    •    • 
32:43     •    •    • 
33    
33:  4       •    •    • 

250 
•    •    .     ^s,  394 
219 
255 
334 

28:   II       ... 

28:  16,  17,  26 
29    

.    .    .    .      150,  151 
152 
60 

•    •     256,  257,  258 

An 

33:  5       ... 
33:  29     ... 
34       .... 
34:  8      .'  .    . 

157 
192 
255 

•;o   . 

176 

JOSHUA 

DEUTERONOMY 

I  •   IO     II   .     . 

.    IQ2 

1-6      ... 

.    8-t 

i:  24 

.  170 

2:  1-24 

.  270 

446       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


JOSHUA  (continued) 

II  KINGS 

PAGE 

PAGE 

5:  2—6:  r  .... 

...  271 

4: 

1-37  .  .  . 

....    267 

24  •  ••  

.   .   .36! 

4: 

23  .... 

386 

4: 

42—5:  19  . 

269 

JUDGES 

7: 

3-20  .  .  . 

269 

4  • 

...  268 

12: 

4-17  .  .  . 

271 

5  .  . 

.  ...  268 

22: 

16  .... 

405 

23: 

1-9,  21-25  • 

271 

•  •  •  27U 

13:  2-25   
I3:6   

.  .  .  270 
•  •  -383 

ISAIAH 

I  SAMUEL 

i: 

i  27  .  .  . 
14  -  -  •  . 

266 
386 

i:  i  —  2:  10  .... 

.  .  •  272 

i: 

18  .  .  .  . 

171 

1:13  

303,  422 

i: 

26  .... 

.   ...  82,  132 

2:  6  

...  114 

2: 

3  

278 

1  1  :  14  —  12:  22  ... 

.  .  .  270 

2: 

5  

192 

12:  22   

.  .  .  190 

6 

268 

14:  45  

...  192 

6: 

3  

187 

'  >5:  i-34  

...  271 

7: 

1-6  .  .  .  . 

268 

18:  14  

.  .  .192 

9'- 

5,  6  .... 

268 

20:  24  ...... 

.  .  .386 

9: 

6,  7.  ... 

376 

25:  6  

.  .  .  192 

10: 

32—12:6  . 

272 

25:  29  

.  .  .  22O 

1  1: 

1-5 

376 

12: 

2  6  .... 

192 

II  SAMUEL 

12: 

2,  3  .... 

351 

18: 

3  

161 

i:  23  
6:  1-7:  17.   .. 
6:  1-19  
18  

.  .  .  269 
.  .  .  269 
.  .  .  416 

25: 
26: 
26: 

9  

2  

4  

192 
394 
187 

22  

22:  51  

.  .  .  272 

...  345 

26: 
27: 
27: 

19  .... 
6-28:  13  . 
13  .... 

124 
268 
.  .  .  /j/,  161 

I  KINGS 

29: 

22,  23  ... 

268 

33: 

6  

192 

i  :  1-31  

.   .267 

35: 

10   .... 

192 

2:  1-12  

...  267 

36: 

n  .... 

•  •  •      f3 

3:  15—4:  i  .... 

.  .  .  267 

37  : 

16  .... 

170 

5:  26  —  6:  13  .  .  . 

.  .  .  268 

40: 

1-26  . 

266 

7  

.  .  .  .  268 

40: 

27  —  41  :  16  . 

267 

7  :  40-50   .... 

...  271 

40: 

29     .  . 

205 

8  

.  .  .  .  278 

42: 

5—43:  I0  • 

267 

8:  i-2i   

268,  272 

42: 

5-2i   .  .  . 

267 

8:27  

.  .  .  .212 

42: 

21   .... 

.  187,  192,  196 

8:29  

.  .  .  .  420 

43: 

16  .  . 

218 

8:35  

.  .  66 

43: 

21—44:23 

268 

8:38  

.  .  .  .  420 

43: 

25  .... 

.  .  .   146,  171 

8:  54-66  

...  272 

44: 

6  

J58 

8:57  

.  .  .  .192 

44: 

22   .... 

.  146,  171,  192 

18:  1-39  •  -  • 

.  .   268 

44: 

23   .... 

192 

18:  29  

•  •     77 

45: 

7  ... 

.96 

18:39  

.   178,  190 

45: 

17  ... 

192 

18:  46  —  19:  21  ... 

.  .  .  .  270 

47: 

4   .... 

.  .  .   103,  192 

INDEXES 


447 


ISAIAH  (continued) 

A  Q  '    1  4  S  I  *  'X     . 

PACK 
....   266 

JEREMIAH  (continn 

11'   T  T 

ed) 

PAGE 
2O     111     171 

t;  I  '   T. 

.   IQ2 

11'  2s     26 

268 

51  '   12  —  52:   12  .     . 

....   266 

34-  8-22      .    .    .   . 

268 

S  I  '    I  ^ 

46     IV2S 

268 

S4'  i-io 

266     267 

EZEKIEL 

i:  1-28     .   .   .   . 

•       51,  52,   272 

M-  ii  —  «•  5 

266 

M°    I  T. 

.  4O6 

4l6 

55    •    •    •    •    • 

266 

3:  12      

.     .        187,   272 

55-  "     5"-  8  •    •    • 

1  68 

i6:6ov  

JCQ 

55-  ">  7  

17:  22     18:  32  .    . 

266 

55-  1J     

T7T 

18:  23,  32  .    .    .    . 

.    .    .    .  168 

20:  2-20     ... 

269 

57-  J4     58.  14  •    • 
57:  15     

2O9 

20  •  25     

22:  1-19     .    .    .    . 

269 

57-  J9     

CU.    r 

*92 

28:  25  —  29:  21   .     . 

268 

5°-  5   

3U1 

33;  II       

168 

59:  20     

187 

36:  16-38     .     . 

271 

59-  2I     

266 

36:  23,  24  .     .     .     . 

1/3 

36:  25            .     .     .     . 

171 

11  A 

36:  37—37:   14  •     • 

271 

37:  I     

jog 

37:   15-28     .     .     . 

267 

63:  7  

f/ 

38:  18—39:  16  . 

273 

64:  4  
64:  7,  ii    .... 

379 
186 

39:  i,  6  .    .    .    . 

107 
46 

65:  24     

271 

44:  15-31    •    •    • 
45:  16  —  46:  18  . 

271 

66-  23     ... 

169 

HOSEA 

JEREMIAH 
i:  1—2:  3    ... 

.      .        266,   267 

2'  21     22  .     .     . 

.  "US 

2'  2    

159 

2:  4-28        .... 

266 

267 

T.:  4  

....         266 

14    

4'    T     2 

266 

14-3  
JOEL 

266 

26q 

8:  13—9:  23    .    . 

9'  22     2T, 

.      .        272,   292 
269 

io'  67          •       • 

I7O 

.    .                   186 

14'  7 

170,  1  86 

.  192 

16'  IQ      17'  14  .    • 

269 

4'  21 

.     .  2IQ 

T7'  7 

187,  344 

2-6     v  8 

267 

.    82.  130 

8'  io 

97 

26q 

272 

AMOS 
2:6    3:8  ... 

267 

92 

IQ2 

3   •          •    • 

T  SO 

8:  io  

413 

12:  6-27 

....  269 

9:7-15    •   •    •    • 

.         ,         .         .         .          269 

44.8       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME  . 


OBADIAH 

PAGE 

I 267 

i :  20 12 

i:  21 158,  185 


JONAH 

i:  1—4:  it 
MIC  AH 


272 


5:  2-4 •  37^ 

5:  6—6:  8 270 

7:  20 ....  187 


HABAKKUK 


2:  3 

3    • 
3:2 


376 

.  272 
1 86 


HAGGAI 

2:   12,    13 2f 

ZECHARIAH 

2:  9 136 

2:  14—4:  7 270,  271 

3:  2 336 

3:  5       421 

9-9 36,  376 

9:  14,  15 l61 

14:   I-2I        272 

14:  9 158,  185,  190 


MALACHI 

] :  i — 2:  7 
3:  4-24     • 

PSALMS 


267 
271 


1: 

2 

3 
3: 

4: 
5: 
6 
cS 

9- 

9: 

10: 

13: 


.  .    83 

•  .376 

•  •  335 

•  •  352 

•  •  337 
.  .170 

185,  405 
.    .  190 


219 
184 
183 


PSALMS  (continued) 


I83, 


330 
114 
179 
280 
344 
432 
280 


16 

16:  3  .    .    .    . 

17 

18:31     .    .    . 
18:51     .    .    . 

19 

19:  8,  9  .    .    . 

19:  15 119,   162 

20 187 

20:  2 1 86 

20: 10  .    .   183,  184,  187,  189,  190 

22:  4 187,  226 

22:  29 157,  185 

23 345 

24        ....    188,  190,  282,  406 

24:  7-10 157 

25 179,  185,  405 

25:  6    ....    in,  170,  183,  186 

25:  II 170.  171 

28:  9 183 

29 188,  190,  282 

29:  ii  .  47,  118, 192,  278,  344,  406 
30 183 

30:  12      . 192 

30:  13 187 

31:6 210,  335,  336 

32 179 

33 l83.  432 

33:  i 209 

33'-  9'11 l84 

33:  20,   21 183 

33:  22 183,  186,  190 

34 l83-  432 

34:  4 279 

34:  10,  1 1 344 

34:  H JI9 

35:  10 jof 

36:  7 I89 

37:  25 344 

40:  12 183,  186 

42        I83 

43 183 

44:  27 183 

46:  12      ...      183,   187,   190,  352 

47        321 

47:  6 161 

48 188,  406 

48:  2 170 

49 3-30 

5' '79 

51:  16 162 

51:  17 IJ9 


INDEXES 


449 


SAI 

55 
55 
55 
56 
65 
65: 
66: 

67 
68 
68: 
68: 
68: 
68: 
69: 
69: 
71: 
72: 

74: 
78: 

79: 
79: 
79: 
79: 
79: 
8  1 
81: 
81: 
81: 
82 
82: 

83 
84: 
84: 
85 
85: 
86 
86: 
86: 
86: 

89 
89: 
89: 
89: 
90 
90: 

92 
92: 
93 
93: 
94 
q/t: 

.MS  \connnuea) 
15  

PAGE 
•   .I7O 

PSALI 

94 
94 
95 
95 
96 
96 

97 
98 
98. 
99 
99- 
99 

IOO 

100: 

IO2 

102: 
103 
103: 
103: 
103: 
104 
104: 
104: 
106 
106: 
106: 
106: 
106: 
107 
108: 
108: 
no: 
in  : 

113: 
113: 
114 
H5 
115  = 
116 
116: 
116: 
117 
118 
118: 
118: 
119 
119: 
119: 
119: 
1  20 

121 

is  (contt 

A 

nuea) 

i 

AGE 
170 
184 

188 
170 

188 
170 

iSS 
188 

1  88 
279 
183 
183 
170 
179 
170 

183 
209 
186 
184 
334 
95 
190 

170 

IO2 
190 
190 

183 
170 
1  2O 
219 

159 
362 
190 
184 
362 

363 
182 

363 

181 
352 
363 
363 
344 
1  86 
189 
187 
189 
406 
189 
437 

18  

•  77,  78 

19  

.  .  IQ2 

10   

.  .  ygy 

1-6 

3  

137,  169 
.  .  92 

9  

I89,  437 

.  •  181 

6 

5  ...... 

.  .  in 

' 

14  

20  .... 

187 

9 

170, 

35,  36  . 

.  .  181 

14  

188-9 

4 



25  

.  .  161 

19  

.  .  189 

14.  . 

18,  19  .  .  .  . 

184,  190 
.  .170 

I7Q 

2,  13-17  .  .  . 

I   .  . 

38  .  183,  184, 

6,  7   .... 

1  86, 

187,  189 
.  161 

10,  14 

IQ  . 

8  

170,  1  86 
.  .  186 

24 

.  98,  179,  189, 

Q  • 

IO   

.  2IQ 

\\ 

....  184, 

.  .  190 

^ 

183, 
161, 
158, 

1  88,  406 

I91,  354 
161,  354 
•  •  183 
1  88,  406 

.  3Od 

2  4  . 

4   ....  47, 

S         .  47 

47  . 

....   186 

II         .  . 

48 

184, 

I  ... 

c 

•  4OS 

7 

c 

182,  420 
187,  190 
.  170 

6  7  . 

IT 

183, 

A  5  . 

8     .  . 

.  18^ 

2 

.  .  in,  184, 

.  I7Q 

187 

8  

.  .278 

170,  190 

.  IV7 

18 

6-10,  12,  14,  15 
16 

.  .  170 
.  ^21 

ii 

it.  . 

^•j 

184,  190 
183,  432 

191,  335 

335,  432 
406,  432 

....   180, 

181 

191, 

1  88, 

2? 

.  .  .  180,  183, 

65, 

42  .  . 

181 

1  88, 

406,  432 
•  •  !57 

142 

106> 

165 

1  88,  406 
.  183 

I.  2 

179,  184,  189, 

29 


450       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


PSALMS  (continued) 

PAGE 

121:4     .......     335,  336 

122  ......  184,    189 

122:  6-9        ......     .  .  406 

123  .......        184,   189 

123:  3     ..........  186 

124  ........      184,  189 

125  ...........  189 

126  ...........  345 

127  ..........  189 

128  ......     189,  192,  337 

129  ..........  189 

13°     ..........  l89 

130:  i     ..........    66 

130:  3,  4    .........  186 

131  ...........  l89 

132  ........     '3'7,  189 

132:  4     ..........  204 

132:  7        .........  J7o 

132:  8,  10  .........  282 

132:  13  .........  .    .  184 

133  ...........  189 

134  .......          189,  190 

134:  I,   2      .........   170 

135  ......       183,    184,  432 

135:  4     ..........  184 

135:  13       .........  l84 

136  ....     182,  183,  363,  432 

136:  6     ..........  204 

136:  7     ..........    96 

136:  25       .........  340 

137  ...........  345 

137:  7     ..........  170 

138:  2     ..........  i/o 

144      ...........  189 

144:  10       .......          218 

H4:  15       ......      182,  183 

H5      ...........    79 

M5:  3     ..........  J7o 

145:  13       .........  2"8 

145:  16       ......      341,  344 

146—150  .......    184,  405 

146:   IO         ......        122,   226 

147    ...........  131 

147:  2       ..........    135 

148        .......    98,  282,  38  f 

150      ...........  161 


PROVERBS  (continued) 

PAGE 

8:  21     

•      •      ^83 

16:  i       

.      .      .    162 

19:  21       

.     .     .    184 

3i:  10-31     

•      •      -349 

JOB 

5:16    

.     .        122 

9:  10    

.     .     91 

12:  10    

170,  210 

25:  2              

107,  120 

26:7         

.     .     .384 

35:  7       

.    .    .  168 

38:6      

•  5<>>38* 

38:36     

.    .   .  204 

CANTICLES 

3:7,8  

•    •   .336 

LAMENTATIONS 

3:  4°    

.1.186 

3:66    

•    .    .363 

5:  21    

,  282 

ESTHER 

PROVERBS 

3:  17,   1  8 

3:    19.   20 
4:  2 


282 


282 


2:  22 

8:  16 
DANIEL 


EZRA 


3  •    • 
3:  ii 


NEHEMIAH 


201 
352 


6:  10 390 

6:  ii 420,  421 

9:  7,  15-19 l86 

9:  18 206 


•   -373 
'9,  373 


3 373, 3SS 

8:  i-iS 66 

8:8      429 

8:15 3*3 

9:  6  ii      184 

9:32 H3 

13:  24 13 


I  CHRONICLES 

PAGE 
12:    ig I92 

16:  8-36 183 

16:  31 184 

i?:  2 48 

29:  1013 184 

29:  10 88 


I  CHRONICLES  (continued) 

PAGB 

29:  II      .     .     .      IJO,  279,  324,  383 

29:  18 187 

II  CHRONICLES 

20:  12 .186 


INDEX   TO   REFERENCES  TO   THE   MISHNA 


BERACHOTH 

PAGE 

Ch.  i,  |  i 374 

Ch.  i,  £3 376,421 

Ch.  i,  84 392 

Ch.  i,  I  5 389 

Ch.  2,  #  i 424,425 

Ch.  2, 1  2 393 

Ch.  2,  §  3 422 

Ch.  2,  g  4      424 

C.h-  3 397,  399 

91'  3,  \  i 433 

Ch.  3,  i  3 429 

Ch  3,  \  4 422 

Ch.  3,  I  5 425 

Ch.  4, 1 1  .   .   .   .    389,  390,  425 

Ch.  4,  2  3 389,  397 

Ch.  4,  g  4 425 

Ch,  4,  2#  5,  6 

Ch.  4,  g  7 

Ch.  5,  #  i 

Ch.  5,  2  2 397,  398 

Ch.  6,  |2  i,  2,  3 434 

Ch.  6,  2  6 

Ch.  6,  |8 435,436 

Ch.  7,  22  J,2,  3 435 

Ch.  8 . 


Ch.  8,  |2  I,  5 437 

Ch.  8,  \  8 394 

Ch.  9 39i 

Ch.  9,  I  2      434,  436 

Ch.  9,  24 391,  425 

Ch.  9,  25 378 

Ch.  9,  2  9 394 


PEA 

Ch.  i,  §  i 


387,  406 


SHABBATH 

PACK 

Ch.  2 406,  436 

/"•!_       r        1  1  J 

Ch.  6,  J2  i,  2 430 

Ch.  16,  $  i 413 

PESAHIM 

Ch.  4,  l§  i-5 372 

Ch.  10 438 

Ch.  10,  |  2   .   .    .   .       ...  437 

Ch.  10,  2  4 404 

Ch.  10,  2  7 391,  408 


)7  i   Ch.  i, 

'5    Ch.  3, 
so  !   Ch.  3, 
iq     Ch.  4, 

2  S  ... 
2  10  ... 

392 

37» 

.  "U12 

!5    Ch.  4, 
18    Ch.  6, 

2  2  .... 

2  2  .... 

391 
4.21 

A    Ch.  7, 

2  i  .... 

,6    Ch.  8 

422 

,6    Ch.  8. 

*  Q  . 

.  402 

375      SUCCA 


Ch.  3,  82  4,  8 432 

Ch.  3,  \  9 423,  432 

Ch.  3,  2  12 432 

Ch.4,  p  5,  6,  9 432 

Ch.  5, 1 1 432 

Ch.  5,  2  4 393,  432 


BETZA 
Ch.  2,  2 


386 


452       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


ROSH  HASHANA 
Ch.  i  . 

PAGE 

NEDARIM 

Ch.  i.  0  i  . 

PACK 

Ch.  i    0  i  .    .    .   . 

186 

Ch  9 

.  4O4 

Ch.  i    0  2  .   .   .    . 

-18  1     AO  I 

SOTA 

Ch.  i,04. 

...  386 

Ch.  2,  ^  9  •    •    •    • 

•  •        385 

Ch.  4,  0,  5  .    .    .    . 
Ch.  4,  I  6  .   .    .    . 
Ch.  4,  0,  7  .    .    .    . 

395,  401,  431 
...         431 
.    .     400,  431 

Ch.  7,  §  5  .    .    .    . 
Ch.  706.    .    .    . 

376 

.  1QI 

Ch.8,  I  i  .    .    .    . 

r~"U    „     y  - 

•     ....  425 

Ch.  4,  I  9  .    .    .    . 

TAANITH 
Ch.  i,  §  i  .   .   .    . 

.    .     397,  398 

Ch.  9,  g  5  .    .    .    . 
Ch.  9,  0  15  (app.) 

GlTTIN 
Ch   "; 

4r9 

3«« 

17C 

Ch.  2,  0  2  .    .    .    . 

•    •    •    •      397 

Ch  5   \  8 

Ch.  2,  0  3  .    .    .    . 

401 

176 

Ch.  204 

BABA  METZIA 
Ch  4  1  2 

177.  419 

Ch.  2    'i  6  .    .    . 

401 

Ch.  4,  0  i  .    .    . 

.    .    .  390 

Ch.  4,  0  8  .    .    . 

.  404 

MEGILLA 
Ch  i    0i.    .   . 

.    .     386  418 

Ch.4,  0J  7,  10,  ii 
SANHEDRIN 

Ch.  i,  0  3  •       •   • 

Ch.  2,  0  4  .    .    .    . 

.  4IQ 

388 

375 

Ch.  i    0  4  ... 

.  418 

f'h  T   'A  s 

fU     o       X    T 

....      430 

Ch.  3,  0  4  .    .    .    . 

377 

Ch.  2,  0  2  .    .    . 
rh  •?  2  Q 

•    •    •  4'9 

•    •    •     372,  417 

Ch  6   01. 

17  S 

Ch.  7,  0  2  .    .    .    . 

375 

Ch   i    00  4    s    • 

.    .    .    .          414 

Ch.8,  88  1-4 
Ch.  10,  0  i    .    375 
Ch.  10  $  3    .    .    . 

....  375 
,  377,  391,  407 
376 

Ch.4,  0  i  ... 
Ch.  4,  0  2  .    .    . 
Ch.  4,  0  3  .    .    . 
Ch.  4,  0  4  .    .    . 
Ch.  40s. 

.    414,  415,  420 
401,  414,  415 
.    387,  394,  420 
.    .    .     416,  418 

.  41  ^ 

EDUIOTH 

Ch.  5,  0  3  .    .    .    . 

/"•V,     r-      V,   (. 

•    •     375,  376 

Ch.  4,  0  7  .    .    . 

431 

Ch.  4,  0  8      .    , 
Ch.  4,  0  10    .    . 

Mo  ED  KATAN 
Ch.  3,  00  5,  6   . 

422,  430 
.     383,  416,  417 

43-1 

Ch.  5,  if,  t>  .    .    .    . 
I  ABOTH 
Ch   i    00  i    2  .    . 

.  174 

Ch   i    0  13    .    .    . 

.  178 

pu    ->    #  8 

Ch.  3.  0  9  .    .    . 

385 

Ph    ->     'A  18 

HAGIGA 

Ch.  201 

•  183 

Ch   i   02 

4^o 

.  4OQ 

Ch.  3,  0  3     ... 
Ch   i    0  6 

.     .     .   1Q4 

Ch.  3,  0  ii    .    .    . 
Ph     s     '6  ?A 

377 

A  I/I 

Ch.  2,  0  2  .    .    . 

374 

KETHUBOTH 
Ch.  i0i.. 

.  4.1-1 

HORAIOTH 

Ch.  i,  §|  3,4  •    • 
Ch.  4.  0  8 

388 

375 

Ch.  4.  0.0  8.  10 

.   178 

INDA 

ZEBAHIM 

PACE 

Ch.  5     406 

'•:.\v-;.s- 

SOFERIM 

Ch.  8,  $ 
Ch.  10, 
Ch.  13, 
Ch.  14, 
Ch.  14, 
Ch.  14, 
Ch.  14, 
Ch.  1  6, 
Ch.  17, 
Ch.  1  8, 
Ch.  18, 
Ch.  19, 
Ch.  19, 
Ch.  20, 

X  o-I/l 

453 

PAGE 

MENAHOTH 
Ch  4>  $  i      429 

1  8  .!!'.] 

•    •      4'7 

...    388 
4IS 

28  5,'  6,'  8,  13' 

8  14    .... 

416,  420 
...  417 

.  188 

TAMID 
Ch    ^    2  T                                     i<->A 

8  18    .... 

.    .    .417 

8  9 

MlDDOTH 
Ch.  2,  8  5         387 

89   

.  41  S 

8  4 

.  417 

8  i^ 

.  38s 

Is 

inf. 

JADAIM 

Ch.  3.  8  4                          775;   181 

/  Q     .     .     • 

•    •    •  39° 
.  417 

5     J 

.  417 

Ch.  4             375 

Ch.  4,  8  .S                                 .  187 

INDEX  TO  REFERENCES  TO  THE  JERUSALEM 
TALMUD 


BERACHOTH 
Ch.  i,  8  3     •    • 

PAGE 

ROSH  HASHANA  (continued) 

PAGE 

Ch.  4,  8  7     ...     399,  417,  437 
Ch.  s.  8  i                              •  ^07 

Ch.  i    8  8 

396 

Ch.  2,  8,  3 

Ch.  2,  8  4     •    • 

•     398,  399.  42i 
.  174 

MEGILLA 

Ch.  i    8  i      •    •    • 

.  4.1^ 

Ch.  4,  8  i      .    . 

•  1QO 

Ch  4   8  i 

•jnS    IQQ 

Ch.  5    $  4 

•IQ-I 

Ch.  T.  2  <; 

...  387 

Ch.  7    82 

.  188           Ch.  2.  2  i      .    .    . 

414 

Ch.  78s 

-2Q7      /llfi 

Ch.  i.  Z  i 

...  387 

Ch   7    86 

^y/.  4ju            ---  ^.  o  - 
•107           Ch.  t.  »  8      .    .    . 

415 

Ch.  9,  8.  9     .    . 
PESAHIM 
Ch.  10   8  i 

394 

.  381 

Ch  4   8  i      •    •    • 

4l8    42Q 

Ch.  4,  8J  2,  3  . 
MOED  KATAN 
Ch.  3,  8  4     •   •   • 

.     .       416,  419 

43° 

Ch.  10   8  2    .    . 

.  4l8 

/i-jS 

JOMA 
Ch.  48s 

43° 
406 

Ch.  3,  'ff  s 

.  433 

SOTA 
Ch   7    2  i 

418 

Ch.  8             .    . 

.  402 

ROSH  HASHANA 
Ch    i    8  5      •    • 

.  4oi 

ABODA  ZARA 
Ch.  i.  8  2 

.  401 

Ch.  4 

.  401 

454        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


INDEX   TO   REFERENCES  TO   THE   BABYLO- 
NIAN  TALMUD 


BERACHOTH 

PACK 

3«      387,  394,  423 

4* 390,  392,  396 

50 434 

6a 381,  389,  394 

6* 39° 

io£ 389,  421 

ii*      ...    393,  395,  406,  415 
126 396 

13*  389,  425 

i4«      404 

14* 392,  43° 

150 422 

15* 422 

i6a 436 

i6£ 409 

21* 387-8,  394,  423 

230 430 

26a 390 

26* 389 

27*      39° 

286  . 398,  421 

29«  398,  399 

30^ 42  r 

3°* '      -39° 

3'0 395,  422 

3'* 395,  425 

32*  421,  43' 

33* 391,  398,  437 

33* 394,  4oo 

340 42 1 

34*  •    •    •  379,  393,  397,  42 1,  425 

35« 434 

4r>0 39' 

4<)/; 391,  436 

41  b 436 

44« 436 

460 391,  435,  436 

47* 43° 

480 388 

48* 435 

490  391-  435 

5"0 378 

510 436 

y-b 437 

53* 376 


BERACHOTH  (continued} 

PACK 

54*  •    •-  .........  4i7 

55*  ...........  43i 

58*  ...........  379 

59*  ........      391,  4o8 

6oa  .........          402 

606  ....    407,421,430,434 

62a  ...........  421 

640  ..........  406 

SHARRATH 


21*  ...........  434 

240  ............  397 

24*  ...........  399 

86*  ...........  399 

1040;  ...........  410 

nS£  ...........  405 

119*  ......     394,  399.  437 

156*  .........  379,  42i 

ERURIN 

40*    ........     400,  437 

4ia    ...........  386 

PESAHIM 

47     ...........  376 

56     ........     379,  392 

87      ...........  379 

102*—  1050   .......  437 

104     ...........  391 

1  150   ...........  43s 

ii6«  ...........  438 

JOMA 


7oa   ...........  400 

87*    ......     39i,  399,  402 


SUCCA 

260. 
37* 
38* 


379 
432 
404 


455 


SUCCA  (continued) 
390    

PACK 

394 

MOED  KA  i  \  \ 
16—19     •   •   •   • 

PACK 

433 

55*     

BETZA 

434 

38i 

2ia  

H  AGIO  A 
130    

433 
39^ 

I7a     

.   •     397,  400 

146    

.  vSi 

RUSH  HASHANA 

8  
i  ia     

18  T 

JEBAMOTH 
62     

379 

17  a     
176     

403 

•2X2    /loi 

63    ...... 

379 

•    .               T.8* 

KETHUBOTH 

230     

27(1 

415 

7*   

436 

310       

•    •      395,415 

8a  

•    •     433,  436 

320       

•     •     .            411 

SOTA 

32*     
34*     

400 
390 

39     

4V 

350     

•    •      39°,  400 

390  
39*   

40 

397 
?o6    AII 

TAANITH 

406   

256     

GlTTIN 

•>7d: 

tub 

59*   

4*5 

yM    ...... 

414,  4'5 
418 

310     

.  41S 

BABA  KA.MM  \ 

vb     

\2b  . 

8^   . 

*7« 

.  178 

i*?b     

i8<z                     IQO 

•*C)6.   1Q8    41  Q 

58*   . 

•    •                177 

f  id     .... 

•38-, 

SCW 

.   17Q 

^ib            4.08.  414. 

Jic    417    AiK 

Wf    
SQ^    

vSS 

220,     

.    .          188 

2\a     .... 

....  4IS 

.    .    .    .  416 

ISfl    •     - 

.    .  174 

2^b            

4.14.    4.17 

I7#    

.     .         .        VS2 

iok 

Ait    At  A 

.  41C< 

ioa 

•  414. 

\\a 

4O7    414.  4l6 

c 

413,  414    416 

12(1 

42Q 

•  387 

.   4.10 

250  

.    .    .      -;7Q 

6o£ 

.  .183 

379 

456        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


SANHEDRIN  (continued) 

MENAHOTH 

PAGK 

PAGK 

38*  

•   •  383           34-36     •   •   • 

43° 

4ta    

•    •  437 

34*   

431 

98^   

•    •  379           350   •    •    •    • 

43i 

99     

•    •  379           35*    •    •    •    • 

381 

99«  

•379            36*   •    ••• 

430 

99*   

.    .  378           42     .... 

43° 

.    .  379           43*   .... 

.     407,  429,  431 

440   .... 

,    .    .     429,  431 

MACCOTH 

65*   .... 

66a   .    .    .    . 

409 
409 

23     

•178  i       1090   .... 

43i 

24     ....    

4°£  i  ARACHIN 

•   •  37s 

12        .... 

404 

AHODA  ZARA 

KERITHUTH 

9«       

•    •  374 

6a   .   .   .   . 

406 

ioa   3 

77,  379           28*  .   .   .   . 

431 

GENERAL   INDEX 


Ab,  name  of  the  fifth  month,  58  ; 
length  of,  59  ;  a  fast  in,  62. 

Ab,  the  Fifteenth  of,  Simeon  ben 
Gamaliel  on,  178. 

Ab,  the  Ninth  of,  fast  on,  62  ;  the 
Priestly  Blessing  on,i  18,  127;  the 
twelfth  Middle  Benediction  of 
\h&  Amida  on,  135-6;  the  peni- 
tential Psalm  omitted  on,  185  ; 
omission  from  the  services  of, 
213  ;  prayer  for  martyrs  on  the 
Sabbath  before,  219;  "poetries" 
for,  223,  229,  238 ;  lesson  on, 
256 ;  Haftaroth  for  the  three 
Sabbaths  before,  265, 266  ;  Haf- 
taroth for  the  seven  Sabbaths 
following,  265, 266  ;  Haftara  for, 
272,  292  ;  Lamentations  read  on, 
284-5,  286  ;  Job  read  on,  286-7  '•> 
shoes  removed  on,  303  ;  the  Red 
Sea  Song  omitted  on,  330. 

Abba  Areka  (Rab),  head  of  the 
school  at  Sura,  34,  36  ;  order  of 
prayer  fixed  by,  34,  156;  Alenu 
composed  by,  214;  New  Moon 
prayer  by,  218. 

Abbaye,  Rabbi,  the  lessons  from 
the  Law  in  the  days  of,  258. 

Abib,  name  of  the  first  month, 
5?,  257. 

A  hi nu  Malkenu,  text  of,  163-4  ; 
history  of,  164;  on  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  178. 

Aboda  (Service),  the,  recital  of  the 
Temple  Atonement  service,  174- 

Aboda  ("  Services  ").  See  A mida, 
the,  the  fifth  Benediction  of. 

A  both  (Fathers),  Ethics,  a  Mish- 
nic  treatise,  when  read,  196 ; 
introduction  to,  196;  conclu- 
sion of,  196-7  ;  contents  of,  197  ; 
the  chain  of  tradition  in,  197; 
quotations  from,  197,  198-201  ; 
sixth  chapter  of,  201. 


Aboth  ("  Fathers  ").  See  A  mida , 
the,  the  first  Benediction  of. 

Abraham,  patriarch,  Midrash  on, 
47  ;  supposed  author  of  a  Cab- 
balistic work,  52  ;  in  the  "  poe- 
tries," 226. 

Abraham  Ibn  Ezra,  philosopher 
and  exegete,  39;  Pentateuch 
commentary  by,  40,  41  ;  holds 
aloof  from  the  Cabbala,  54. 

Abudraham  (David  ben  Abu- 
Dirhem),  commentary  by,  on 
the  Prayer  Book,  40-1  ;  on  the 
loud  recital  of  the  evening 
A  mida,  80  ;  on  Kiddush  in  the 
Synagogue,  80;  on  the  Scrip- 
tural passages  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  83  ;  on  the  Kaddish,  109, 
1 10  ;  on  the  close  of  the  Aniiaa, 
120;  on  Abinu  Ma/kenu,  164; 
on  the  morning  hymns,  183;  on 
the  "reception  of  the  Sab- 
bath," 188  ;  on  "  Master  of  all 
Worlds,"  207  ;  on  Monday  and 
Thursday  prayers,  213;  on  the 
prayer  for  the  government,  217  ; 
quoted,  384,  390,  392,  393,  395, 
396,  400,  403,  404,  405,  409,  415, 
421,422,  432,  438.  _ 

Accents,  the,  none  in  the  scrolls 
of  the  Law,  66,  261 ;  none  in  the 
Prophets  formerly,  70 ;  charac- 
ter and  names  of,  308-9 ;  vari- 
ously read,  309-10;  in  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets,  310;  where 
observed,  310  ;  where  and  when 
invented,  310-11. 

Acts,  the,  the  reading  of  the  Law 
in,  249  ;  quoted,  413. 

Adam  Kadmon,in  the  Cabbala,52. 

Adar,  name  of  the  twelfth  month, 
58  ;  length  of,  59  ;  Purim  in,  62. 

Adar  Sheni,  name  of  the  thir- 
teenth month,  58 ;  length  of,  60 ; 
Purim  in,  62. 


(457) 


458       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Addition.     See  TOJT/AZ,  the. 

"Additional "  (Musaf)  Amida, 
the,  78,  112;  Biblical  basis  of, 
78,  148;  time  of,  79,  148;  the 
Kedusha  of,  1 15-16 ;  the  Priestly 
Blessing  of,  118;  number  of 
Middle  Benedictions  in,  148; 
Sabbath  modifications  of,  149- 
50, 151, 152-4;  Festival  modifica- 
tions of,  150-1  ;  the  three  Feast 
modifications  of,  151 ;  the  New 
Moon  modifications  of,  151-4; 
the  New  Year  modifications  of, 
155-62. 

"Additions  "  (Tosefotli),  to  Rashi's 
Talmud  commentary,  41. 

Adiabene,  conversions  to  Judaism 
in,  32. 

Adon  Olam,  when  sung  and 
spoken,  232  ;  metrical  version  of, 

232-3- 

Adonai,  pronunciation  of  the 
Tetragrammaton,  84. 

Africa,  North,  the  Jews  of,  Sefar- 
dim,  12;  begin  their  literary 
activity,  39. 

Afternoon  service  (Minha),  the, 
joined  with  the  night  service, 
76,  79;  the  Amida  of,  77  ;  the 
Amida  of,  curtailed,  78;  length 
of,  8 1 ;  the  Priestly  Blessing  in, 
1 1 8  ;  modifications  of  the  A mida 
of,  142  ;  Bible  verses  in,  188-9  5 
read  before  a  wedding,  332. 

Aggadta,  meaning  of,  44 ;  slight 
allusion  to,  in  the  early  prayers, 
45;  not  authoritative,  45,  48; 
groundwork  of  the  sermon,  48  ; 
in  the  New  Testament,  49  ;  dan- 
gers of,  49 ;  the  Amida  borrows 
from,  142. 
Sec  also  Midrash. 

Agrippa  I,  happy  rule  of,  25-6. 

Ahaba,  a  ''poetry,"  225. 

AJiaba,  the,  second  benediction 
before  the  Shema,  89,  100. 

Ahriman,  protest  against,  in  the 
benedictions,  96. 

Akdamoth  Millin,  an  Aramaic 
poem  for  Pentecost,  291-2. 

Akeda,  the  binding  of  Isaac,  in 
the  New  Year  service,  160. 

Akiba,  a  "holy  name,"  281. 

Akiba,  Rabbi,  on  the  opposition 


between  the  Pharisees  and  the 
common  people,  27 ;  supports 
Bar  Cochba,  29;  attempts  to 
codify  tradition,  30 ;  discounten- 
ances superstitious  practices, 
30;  and  mystic  science,  52 ;  a 
Cabbalistic  work  attributed  to, 
52 ;  legend  about,  and  the 
Mourners'  Kaddish,  1 10-1 1 ;  and 
the  first  Middle  Benediction  of 
the  Amida,  128;  and  Abinu 
Malkcnu,  164 ;  and  the  reading 
of  the  Law,  261  ;  the  death  of, 
333 ;  a  Midrash  ascribed  to,  361. 

Akylas,  convert,  supposed  author 
of  Targum  Onkelos,  289. 

Alemmer,  the  platform  in  the 
Synagogue,  64. 

Alenu,  in  the  New  Year  service, 
158,  162  ;  in  the  Atonement  Day 
service,  174  ;  in  the  daily  liturgy, 
214-15. 

Alexander,  a  "  holy  name,"  281. 

Alexander  the  Great,  referred  to, 
21. 

Alexander  Jannaeus,  the  Saddu- 
cees  under,  25  ;  persecutes  the 
Pharisees,  135  ;  referred  to, 
34°. 

Alexandria,  Jews  in,  32  ;  the  Jews 
of,  hold  Greek  in  nigh  esteem, 
292. 

Alfassi.     See  Isaac  Alfassi. 

Aliya  (Ascent),  "calling  up"  to 
the  Law,  262. 

Alkabets.  See  Solomon  the  Le- 
vite. 

Almembar,  the  platform  in  the 
Synagogue,  64. 

America,  the  Ark  towards  the 
East  in  the  Synagogues  of,  66. 

Amha-aretz,  the,  the  unlearned, 
23  ;  opposition  of.  to  the  Phari- 
sees, 27-8 ;  in  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  37  ;  and  the  wearing  of 
fringes,  313;  the  phylacteries 
not  worn  by,  316. 

Amida  (Prayer;  Tefilla ;  Eigh- 
teen Benedictions),  the,  three 
times  daily,  instituted  by  the 
Pharisees,  24 ;  position  of  the 
worshipper  during,  65,  299 ;  posi- 
tion of  the  leader  during,  66  ;  im- 
portance and  names  of,  75, 77-8  ; 


INDEXES 


459 


contents  of,  77  ;  when  recited, 
77  ;  how  recited,  78  ;  number  of, 
79;  abstract  of, in  the  evening  ser- 
vice, 80;  similarity  of,  in  the  two 
rituals,  87  ;  joined  to  the  Geulla, 
95;  joined  to  the  Kaddish,  107;  in- 
troduction and  close  of,  119; 
pendant  to,  119-20;  and  the 
'•poetries," 224;  to  be  read  in  a 
whisper,  303 ;  frame  of  mind 
during,  305 ;  not  read  during 
Shitfa,  330. 

See  also  Amida,  the,  the  Bene- 
dictions of. 

Amida,  the  "Additional."  See 
"  Additional "  Amida,  the. 

A iiiida,  the,  the  Benedictions  of, 
characteristics  of,  85  ;  number 
of,  112,  128. 

Amida,  the,  the  first  Benediction 
of  (Aboth),  characteristics  of, 
85  ;  name,  text,  and  analysis  of, 
112-13  ;  modification  of,  121  ;  de- 
votion during,  305. 

Amida,  the,  the  second  Benedic- 
tion of  (Geburotli),  opening  and 
closing  of,  85-6  ;  name,  text,  and 
analysis  of,  1 14  ;  modification  of, 
121,  123-4. 

Amida,  the,  the  third  Benediction 
of  (Kedttshatk  ha-Sheni)  name, 
text,   and    analysis   of,    114-16; 
modification  of,  121,  122-3. 
See  also  Thrice-Holy,  the. 

Amida,  the,  the  Middle  Benedic- 
tion (or  Benedictions)  of,  on 
days  of  rest  ("  Sanctity  of  the 
Day"),  close  of,  140;  antiquity 
of,  140, 147;  on  the  Sabbath,  140- 
3  ;  on  Festivals,  143-7  ;  in  the 
"Additional,"  148-54;  in  the 
"Additional"  of  New  Year, 
155 ;  in  the  Atonement  Day 
services,  165-75. 

Amida,  the,  the  thirteen  Middle 
Benedictions  of,  for  work-days, 
text  and  analysis  of,  128-138  ; 
abstract  of,  138-9. 

Amida,  the,  the  fifth  Benediction 
of  (Aboda),  name,  text,  and 
analysis  of,  116-17,  119;  modifi- 
cations of,  124-5,  126-7,  144. 
Amida,  the,  the  sixth  Benediction 
of  (Hodaia),  name  and  text  of, 


117-18;    modifications  of,    121, 
125-6. 

Amida,  the,  the  seventh  Benedic- 
tion of   (Bircath  Cohaniiri),  in-  . 
troduction    to,     118;      various 
forms  of,  118-19;    modifications 
of,  12 1-2,  126-7. 
See  also  Priestly  Blessing,  the. 

Amnon  of  Mainz,  liturgical  poet, 

237- 

Amram,  the  ritual  of,  15,  39,  372  ; 
Gaon,39;  on  the  Musaf  Amida, 
149;  on  "  Master  of  all  Worlds," 
206 ;  quoted,  378,  392,  394,  400, 
401,  402,  403,  404,  405,  406,  408, 
409,421,  43I>432>  436,438- 

Amsterdam,  a  Sefardic  colony  in, 

43- 
"Angel  of  the  Presence,"  the,  in 

the  Prophets,  51. 
Angels,  the,  in  the  Bible,  Talmud, 

and  Cabbala,  51. 
Anthropomorphisms,   protests 

against,  in  the  Talmud,  49. 
Antigonus,  last   of    the   Hasmo- 

neans,  referred  to,  22. 
Antigonus  of    Socho,  motto  of, 

22-3;  disciples  of,  23;  \i\Aboth, 

197. 
Antioch,  the  Aramaic  of,  in  the 

Jerusalem  Talmud,  37. 
Antiochus  IV,  referred  to,  22  ;  the 

reading  of  the  Law  under,  249- 

5°- 
Antipater,  the  Idumean,  rule  of, 

25- 

Apocrypha,  the,  Synagogue  not 
mentioned  in  the  older  works 
of,  65 . 

Arabia,  long  continuance  of  the 
Era  of  Seleucus  in,  63. 

Arabic,  the  language  of  the  liter- 
ary Jews  of  Spam,  40;  transla- 
tions from,  40 ;  replaces  Greek, 
292. 

Aragon,  Jewish  literature  in,  40. 

Aramaic,  the  language  of  the 
Zohar,  55,  243 ;  less  known  than 
Hebrew  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, 55  ;  in  the  Kaddish,  109 ;  in 
the  A  mida,  129 ;  the  language  of 
Col  Nidre,  176,  177;  in  the 
Yekum  Purkan,  215,  216; 
names  used  in  the  services,  281 ; 


460        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


used  in  Judea,  288  ;  versions  of 
Law  and  Prophets,  290;  Akda- 
moth  Millin  in,  291 ;  in  the 
Haggada,  359. 

Aramaic  elements,  in  the  Mishna, 
31 ;  in  the  Talmuds,  37  ;  in  the 
Psalms,  1 80;  in  .the  Book  of 
Daniel,  288;  in  the  grace  after 
meals,  344-5. 

Ark  (A ran),  the,  use  and  position 
of,  in  the  Synagogue,  65, 66 ;  cur- 
tain before,  66 ;  lines  before 
opening,  278;  lines  when  open, 
278-82  ;  liturgy  of,  on  the  "Joy 
of  the  Law,"  278;  the  "thirteen 
qualities"  sung  before,  279; 
posture  while  open,  299. 

A ron,  Hebrew  name  of  the  Ark, 
65. 

Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  referred 
to,  20. 

Asaph,  the  sons  of,  in  captivity,  20. 

"  Ascent."    See  Aliya;  Silluk. 

Ashe,  reduces  the  Babylonian 
Talmud  to  writing,  36. 

Asher(Rosh),  a  German  Rabbi  in 
Spain,  42. 

Ashkenaz,  descendants  of,  12. 

Ashkenazim,  the,  origin  of  name 
of,  12  ;  compared  with  the  Sefar- 
dim,  12;  pronunciation  of  He- 
brew by,  13-15  ;  the  intoning  of 
prayers  by,  15  ;  prayers  of,  con- 
cise forms,  16  ;  in  touch  with  the 
Sefardim,  42  ;  acknowledge  the 
Shiilhan  Aritch  as  authorita- 
tive, 43  ;  Mourners'  Kaddish,  a 
custom  of,  1 10. 

See  also  Prayer  Book,  the  Ash- 
kenazic. 

As/ire,  Psalm  145  with  introduc- 
tion and  conclusion,  182-3  ;  cen- 
ter of  the  morning  hymns,  183, 
184;  antiquity  of,  185;  in  the 
afternoon  service,  188;  while 
the  scroll  is  out  of  the  Ark,  281. 

Asia,  Western,  time  of  the  morn- 
ing service  in,  79. 

'Asiya,  a  Cabbalistic  term,  53. 

Assyrian  characters,  the,  used  in 
the  scrolls  of  the  Law,  66. 

Astronomy,  cultivated  by  Samuel, 
34,  36. 

Atonement,   the    Day   of,   occur- 


rence of,  60;  date  of,  61 ;  not 
doubled,  61  ;  five  Amidas  on, 
79;  the  Tetragrammaton  pro- 
nounced on,  84,  174;  the  Kedu- 
sha  of,  116;  the  Priestly  Bles- 
sing on,  118;  modifications  of 
the  Amida  on,  121-3,  J44>  J46, 
165-75  ;  modifications  of  the  M li- 
sa/A mida  on,  151,  162,  174-5; 
Abinu  Malkenu  on,  163-4;  the 
eve  of,  a  day  of  good  cheer,  163  ; 
confession  of  sins  on,  165-75  \ 
the  evening  service  of,  169-70, 
175-8,  19 1 ;  close  of  the  services 
of,  178;  variously  celebrated, 
178;  during  the  days  of  the 
Temple,  178;  Psalms  on,  183-4; 
the  Psalter  read  on,  192  ;  Joma 
read  on,  202 ;  prayers  for  the 
dead  on,  219;  "poetries"  on, 
224,  225,  226-7,  228,  229;  les- 
son on,  254-5,  258;  Haftara 
for  the  Sabbath  before  and 
after,  266;  Haftaroth  for,  272, 
275  ;  benediction  over  the  Haf- 
tara on,  277 ;  sermon  in  the 
evening  of,  294 ;  kneeling  dur- 
ing the  service  of,  301 ;  shoes 
removed  on,  303;  devotion  on, 
303 ;  the  Shofar  on,  322 ;  ends 
the  ShiVa,  331  ;  modifications  of 
Habdala  for,  352. 
See  also  Col  Nidre  services,  the ; 
Neila,  the. 

Atziluth,  a  Cabbalistic  term,  53. 

Austria,  name  of  the  Synagogue 
platform  in,  64 ;  time  of  the 
morning  service  in,  79;  the  Sho- 
far blowing  in,  320. 

'Ayin,  pronunciation  of,  14. 

Ba'al  Kore,  reader  of  the  lesson 
from  the  Law,  70,  262  ;  attended 
by  lay  officers,  71. 

Babylonia,  Jews  in,  31 ;  history 
of  the  Jews  of,  under  the  Sas- 
sanides,  34 ;  the  Jews  of,  un- 
affected by  Christianity,  37  ;  the 
three-years  cycle  of  the  reading 
of  the  Law  in,  250-1. 

Babylonia,  the  schools  of  (Calla; 
Methibatha},  religious  centers, 
'9,  33'  45  5  studies  and  teachers 
of,  34,  35  ;  character  of  the  dis- 


INDEXES 


461 


cussions  in,  35;  half-yearly 
meetings  at,  37  ;  use  the  Era  of 
Seleucus,  62  ;  and  the  Ycknin 
Purkan,  216. 

Babylonian,  elements  in  the  Mish- 
na,  31 ;  names  of  the  months,  58. 
Bagdad,  the   Khalifs  of,  and  Jew- 
ish learning,   38 ;    the   Day  of 
Atonement  at,  178. 
Bahir,    the,  a   Cabbalistic    work, 
54 ;  a  supplication  from,  in  the 
Prayer  Book,  241. 
Balak,   a  section  of   the   Penta- 
teuch, 270. 

Baraitha,  the,  tradition  not  com- 
piled in  the  Mishna,  30;  less 
enlightened  than  the  Mishna, 
31 ;  preserved  in  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  35,  37  ;  in  the  morning 
service,79;  on  the  response  inthe 
Kaddish,  108;  on  the  ninth  of 
the  Middle  Benedictions  of  the 
Amida,  133;  on  the  "Sanctity 
of  the  Day,"  140;  in  the  lit- 
urgy, 194,  195  ;  on  the  cycles  of 
the  reading  of  the  Law,  251 ; 
on  the  readings  for  the  Ninth 
of  Ab,  286  ;  on  the  phylacteries, 
316;  on  blessing  the  moon,  354. 
Bar  Afitzva,  a  boy  of  thirteen 
called  to  the  Law,  262  ;  uses  and 
abuses  of  the  celebration,  262- 
3,  310;  age  of  the  custom,  263. 
"  Be  it  thy  will."  a  formula  in  the 

Prayer  Book,  87,  243,  279. 
Beasts,  the,  of  Ezekiel,  51. 
Behar    Sinai,   a  section  of    the 

Pentateuch,  264. 

"  Benediction  of  Song,"  after  the 
morning  hymns,  185, 208-10 ;  be- 
fore the  morning  hymns,  207 ; 
introduction  to,  208-9 ;  on  work- 
days, 209-10;  alphabetic  ar- 
rangement of,  210;  sealing  of, 
210 ;  poetical,  222. 
See  also  Nisftmath. 
Benedictions,  the,  drawn  up  by 
the  Emorai'm,  free  from  legen- 
dary elements,  37  ;  in  the  morn- 
ing service,  79 ;  Scriptural  color 
of,  82-3  ;  meaning  and  forms  of, 
85-6;  not  to  be  said  uselessly, 
86,  336 ;  Mishnic  in  origin,  86 ; 
peculiarity  of  the  style  of,  86-7  ; 


antiquity  of,  87;  how  referred 
to  in  Mishna  and  Talmud,  87-8  ; 
responses  to,  105  ;  of  the  priests, 
127;  of  Hallel,  181, 182, 323;  over 
the  study  of  the  Law,  194-5,  204 ; 
on  rising,  203-7  ;  for  the  Oinct 
days,  211 ;  over  the  Law,  261-2  ; 
of  thanks,  over  the  Law,  276; 
over  the  Haftara,  276-7 ;  on 
those  called  to  the  desk,  280-1 ; 
over  the  Shofar,  321;  at  wed- 
dings, 332-3 ;  taught  to  children, 
334-5 ;  on  Hanucca  over  the 
candles,  337-8 ;  of  grace  after 
meals,  340-7;  in  Habdala,  351- 
2  ;  on  blessing  the  moon,  354-5  ; 
on  bitter  herbs,  363. 
Benedictions,  the,  of  the  Ainida. 

See  under  Amida,  the. 
Benedictions,  the,  of  the  Shema. 

See  under  Shema,  the. 
Ben   He-He,   Rabbi,    saying    of, 

200-1. 
Benjamin    the    Shepherd,    grace 

after  meals  as  said  by,  346. 
Ben  Zoma,  Rabbi,  saying  of,  199 ; 

in  the  Haggada,  360. 
Beracha.    See  Benedictions,  the. 
Bereshith,  a  section  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, 248. 

Beria,  a  Cabbalistic  term,  53. 
Beshallah,  a  section  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, 248,  254,  263. 
Beth,  pronunciation  of,  14,  17. 
Bethar,  fortress  in  the  Bar  Cochba 

rebellion,  29. 

Beth  Din,  Rabbinical  Court,  68. 
Beth      Hammidrash,    house    of 

study,  67  ;  services  in,  67. 
Beth     ha-Keneseth,     House     of 
Meeting,  65.     See   Synagogue, 
the. 

Beth  Shearim,  seat  of  the  Patri- 
archs, 32. 

Bible,  the.     See  Scriptures,  the. 
Bima,  the  platform  in  the  Syna- 
gogue, 64. 

Bircath  Cohanim  (Priestly  Bless- 
ing). See  Amida,  the,  the  sev- 
enth Benediction  of;  Priestly 
Blessing,  the. 

Bitter  Herbs  (Maror),  to  be  men- 
tioned at  the  Seder,  357,  362; 
benediction  over,  363. 


462       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Black  Death,  the,  and  Abinu 
Malkenu,  164. 

Blessing,  Priestly.  See  Priestly 
Blessing,  the. 

Blue  dye-stuff,  on  the  fringes,  312. 

Bodleian  Library,  the,  manuscript 
in,  on  Haftaroth,  274-5. 

Boethos,  disciple  of  Antigonus  of 
Socho,  founder  of  the  Saddu- 
cees,  23. 

Bohemia,  Ashkenazim  in,  13. 

Booths,  the  Feast  of  (Huts ;  Suc- 
coth ;  Tabernacles;  the  Feast), 
a  Midrash  concerning,  46 ;  date 
of ,  6 1 ;  modification  of  the  A  mida 
of,  144 ;  Hallel on,  180-1;  Psalms 
on,  183  ;  "  poetries  "  for,  223,  227, 
323-5  ;  lessons  on,  255,  256,  258  ; 
number  of  scrolls  used  on,  256-7  ; 
Haftaroth  for,  272-3 ;  Ecclesi- 
astes  read  on,  284 ;  the  Liilab 
on,  322-3  ;  Kiddush  on,  355. 
See  also  Feasts,  the  three ;  Festi- 
vals, the. 

Booths,  the  Feast  of,  the  seventh 
day  of  (Hoshana  Rabba),  can- 
not occur  on  a  Sabbath,  60; 
Deuteronomy  and  the  Psalter 
read  on,  192  ;  the  lesson  on,  254 ; 
the  Haftara  for,  272  ;  ceremo- 
nies connected  with,  323-5  ;  the 
willow  bunch  on,  324 ;  Cabbal- 
istic meaning  of,  324. 

Booths,  the  Feast  of,  the  eighth 
day  of  (Shemini  Atzeretli),  date 
of,  6 1  ;  prayer  for  rain  on,  123-4  ; 
modifications  of  the  Ainida  of, 
144;  prayers  for  the  dead  on, 
219:  lesson  on,  255, 258;  the  Haf- 
tara for,  272  ;  interrupts  mourn- 
ing, 331. 

Booths,  the  Feast  of,  the  ninth 
day  of.  See  "Joy  of  the  Law." 

Boys  under  thirteen,  and  the  read- 
ing of  the  Law,  260,  263  ;  on  the 
"Joy  of  the  Law,"  326. 

Bread,  Kiddtish  over,  350. 

"  Breaking  on  the  Shema"  See 
nutter  Shema,  the. 

"  Bridegroom  of  Genesis,"  283. 

"  Bridegroom  of  the  Tora,"  283. 

Buddhism,  and  Cabbalistic  no- 
tions, 53. 

Bui,  name  of  the  eighth  month,  58. 


Cabbala,  the,  and  the  HaxiiUin, 
1  8,  56;  resembles  Midrash,  50,  56; 
philosophy  of,  50-1  ;  the  Mishna 
on,  51-2  ;  on  the  names  of  God, 
52  ;  on  the  archetype  of  man, 
52  ;  as  expounded  in  the  "  Book 
of  Formation,"  52-3  ;  works  of, 
53-5  ;  not  supported  by  the 
teachers  of  Arabic  Spain,  54  ; 
in  the  Bahir,  54  ;  in  the  Zohar, 
54-6  ;  name  of,  a  usurpation,  56  ; 
esoteric,  56  ;  in  the  Prayer  Book, 
241-4. 

Cabbalistic  traces  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  120,  183,  241-4,  277-8,  279, 
336-7,  349,  355;  objectionable, 
242-3. 

Cabbalists,  the,  use  "  Be  it  thy 
will,"  87  ;  and  Hoshana  Rabba, 


Cassar,  Jews  in  Rome  under,  32. 
Cagliari,  supposed  birthplace  of 

Eleazar  Kalir,  39. 
Cairo,  various  congregations  in, 

16  ;  Maimonides  in,  40. 
Calendar,  the  Athenian  (Metonic), 

adopted  by  the  Jews,  33,  57  ; 

as  modified  by  the  Jews,  59, 

60. 
Calendar,  the  Jewish,  elements  of, 

57  ;  the  month  in,  57  ;   depend- 

ence   of,   upon    the    Passover, 

58-9;  modified  by  the  Sabbatic 

year,  59. 
Calendar,   the   Julian,   compared 

with  the  Metonic,  59. 
Calla,  assemblies.   See  Babylonia, 

the  schools  of. 
Candles,     benediction     over,    on 

Hanucca,  337-8;  the  lighting  of, 

on  Sabbath,  348;  in  the  Hab- 

dala*  351. 
Canticles,  the  Book  of,  sacredness 

of,  disputed,  22,  45  ;  text  of  the 

Passover  "poetries,"  227,  286; 

read  on  Passover,  284,  286. 
Cantor,  Christian  title  correspond- 

ing to  Hazan,  69-70. 
Capital  crimes,  treated  of  in  the 

Mishna,  30. 
Capital    punishment,    mitigated, 

23  ;  the  Mishna  treats  of,  30. 
Cappadocia,  Jews  in,  31-2. 
Cai'vanoth,  306. 


INDEXES 


Censorship  exercised  upon  the 
Jewish  prayers,  132. ' 

Chapter  divisions  of  the  Law, 
Jews  not  familiar  with,  247. 

"  Chariot,  the,  the  Work  of,"  51. 

Cherubim,  the,  51. 

Christian  dogmas,  in  the  Zohar, 
55  ;  in  the  Cabbala,  243  ;  in  the 
liturgy,  263. 

Christianity,  the  reason  for  the 
rise  of,  26  ;  does  not  affect  the 
Babylonian  Jews,  37;  protest 
against,  in  the  Shema  benedic- 
tions, 103  ;  protest  against,  in  the 
Amida,  146;  protest  against, 
in  NisKmath)  208 ;  and  the 
uncovered  head  during  worship, 
302  ;  protest  against,  in  the  grace 
after  meals,  342. 

Christians,  the  Jewish,  supersti- 
tious practices  of,  30 ;  whether 
the  same  as  Minim,  32,  134. 

Chronicles,  the  Book  of,  date  of, 
2 1 ;  no  mention  of  the  reading 
of  the  Law  in,  64. 

Chumash.     See  Law,  the  Mosaic. 

Church,  the  Jewish,  rise  of,  26. 

Civil  law,  meagerly  treated  in  the 
Jerusalem  Talmud,  33-4. 

Claudius,  emperor,  favors  Agrippa 
I,  26. 

Cohanim  (Priests),  the,  function  of, 
in  the  modern  Synagogue,  69, 
318;  pronounce  the  Tetragram- 
maton,  84 ;  the  first  called  to  the 
reading  of  the  Law,  260,  264 ; 
liturgy  on  calling,  280;   posture 
of,  299;   debarred  from  giving  | 
the  Priestly   Blessing,  318;   on 
the  "  Joy  of  the  Law,"  325. 
See  also  Priestly  Blessing,  the. 

Co  I  Bo  edition  of  the  Siddur,  223. 

Col  Nidre  service,  the,  the  Seli- 
hoth  of,  169-70;  the  remission  of 
vows  in,  175-7. 

"Comforts:"  Haftaroth,  265,  266. 

Companions.     See  Pharisees,  the. 

Confession,  the  Order  of  (Vid- 
dni},  the  Tetragrammaton  pro- 
nounced in,  84,  174;  in  the  Atone- 
ment Day  services,  165-75  ? text 
of,  165-7,  1 70-2;  alphabetic,  166-7, 
173  ;  in  the  Ncila  service,  167-8 ; 
in  the  evening  service,  168-9;  S£~ 


463 

liJwth  added  to,  169;  part  of,  re- 
cited on  the  Selihoth-&a.ys,  173  ; 

close  of,  173-4;  "poetries"  in, 

227  ;  posture  during,  299. 
Confirmation.    See  Bar  Mitzva, 
Congregations,    meaning    of.  6S ; 

causes  for  the  multiplication1' of , 

68. 
Conversions  to  Judaism  in  Adia- 

bene,  32. 
Converts,  righteous,  in  the  A  niida. 

135- 

Coptic,  Esther  translated  into,  292. 
Cordova,  the  literary  Jews  of,  39-4'o. 
Courts,  the,  under  Herod,  refuse 

to  try  capital  cases,  25. 
Cracow,    birthplace    of      Moses 

Isserles,  42. 
Creation,  the  Era  of.     See  World 

the,  the  Era  of. 
Creed,  the,  formulated  by    Mai- 

monides,  accepted,  42  ;  metrical 

version  of  (Ytgdal),  231-2. 
"  Crown    of   Kingship "    (Kether 

MaVchuth),   by   Solomon    Ibn 

Gebirol,  234. 
"  Cup    of    blessing,"    the,   drunk 

after  meals,  345. 
Custom   (Minhag),  variability  of, 

15-16. 
Cuzari,  apology  of  Judaism,  39; 

the  Era  used  in,  62. 
Cyrenaica,  Jews  in,  32. 
Cyrus,  permits  the  Jews  to  return, 

19. 

Daniel,  the  Book  of,  arranged  by 
the  Great  Synod,  2 1 ;  the  lan- 
guage of,  37  ;  the  angels  in,  51 ; 
praying  thrice  a  day  in,  77-8, 
300 ;  appellative  of  God  in,  84. 

Darga,  an  accent,  309. 

Darius,  the  second  Temple  fin- 
ished under,  20. 

Darshan,  preacher,  48,  293, 295. 

David,  the  son  of  Abu-Dirhem. 
See  Abudraham. 

David  Kimhi,  grammarian,  40. 

Dayanim,  judges,  68. 

Dayenu,  in  the  Seder,  361-2. 

Dead,  the,  prayers  for,  219-20. 

Death,  services  at,  333. 

Debarim,  a  section  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, when  read,  249. 


464        JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Demiurgos,  the,  interposed  be- 
tween God  and  the  world,  50. 

Derasha,  a  sermon,  48,  293. 

Deuteronomy,  the  Book  of,  Mes- 
sianic promises  in,  26 ;  read  on 
Hoshana  Rabba,  192;  divisions 
of,  248 ;  posture  during  the  last 
verses  of,  300. 

Devotion  during  worship,  305-7. 

Dew,  prayer  for,  in  the  Amida, 
124,  130-1. 

Diaconos-Shammash,  71. 

Dietary  laws,  in  the  Shulhan 
Aruch,  42. 

Diocletian,  referred  to,  38. 

Dispersion,  the,  of  the  Jews,  31-2. 

Divorce,  view  of,  in  the  Babylo- 
nian Talmud,  36. 

Dominus,  the  Tetragrammaton  in 
the  Vulgate,  84. 

"  Drosho,"  sermon,  48,  293. 

Easter,  the  date  of,  fixed,  59. 

Ecclesiastes,  the  Book  of,  late  date 
of,  21 ;  sacredness  of,  disputed, 
22,  45  ;  late  Hebrew  in,  90 ;  read 
on  Booths,  284 ;  in  the  "  poe- 
tries "  of  the  Eighth  of  the  Feast, 
286. 

Ecclesiasticus,  Synagogue  not 
mentioned  in,  65. 

Edessa,  the  Aramaic  of,  in  the 
Jerusalem  Talmud,  37. 

"  Edom,  Prince  of,"  in  the  Cab- 
bala, 5 1 . 

Egypt,  Lower,  Jews  in,  32. 

Eighteen  Benedictions,  the.  Sec 
Ainida,  the. 

Elders,  the,  in  Aboth,  197. 

Eleazar,  Rabbi,  quotation  from, 
195  ;  saying  of,  198. 

Eleazar  ben  Azariah,  Rabbi,  say- 
ing of,  199 

Eleazar  Kalir,  first  author  of  lit- 
urgical poetry,  39,  228. 

Eliezer,  Rabbi,  saying  of,  198;  a 
Midrash  ascribed  to,  361. 

Elijah,  at  the  Seder,  358. 

Eli  Tzion,  "  poetry "  for  the 
Ninth  of  Ab,  238. 

Elohiiii.  meaning  of,  52  ;  occa- 
sionally the  pronunciation  of 
the  Tetragrammaton,  84. 

Elul,  half-yearly  meetings  of  the 


schools   in,   37 ;    name    of    the 
sixth  month,  52 ;  length  of,  59. 

Emanations,  interposed  between 
God  and  the  world,  50. 

Emorai'm,  the,  the  teachers  of  the 
Talmud,  35.  See  Talmud,  the 
Babylonian. 

Emperors,  the,  Era  of,  used  by 
the  Jews,  62. 

England,  Angevin,  the  Jews  of, 
French,  41. 

En  Kelohenu,  221. 

Epicurean  philosophy,  Zadok  de- 
votee of,  23  ;  condemned  in  the 
Mishna,  36,  49;  protest  against, 
in  the  liturgy,  97. 

Epikoma  (Ephikomenon,  Epikor- 
noti),  meaning  of,  357-8. 

"  Epikuros,"  in  the  Mishna  and 
the  Babylonian  Talmud,  36. 

Episkopos,  like  Hazan,  69 

Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the,  ex- 
amples of  Midrashic  style  in,  49. 

Equinox,  the  vernal,  full  moon 
after,  determines  the  date  of 
Easter,  58-9 ;  the  fall,  in  the  Era 
of  Seleucus,  59. 

Eras,  the,  used  by  the  Jews,  62-3. 
See  Seleucus,  the  Era  of; 
World,  the,  the  Era  of. 

Esther,  the  Book  of  (Megilla),  ar- 
ranged by  the  Great  Synod,  21  ; 
benediction  before  the  reading 
of,  24  ;  read  on  Purim,  284,  285, 
287 ;  written  as  a  scroll,  285 ; 
benedictions  over,  285, 287;  man- 
ner of  reading,  285;  a  Mishnic 
treatise  on,  287 ;  in  languages 
other  than  Hebrew,  291, 292  ;  the 
accents  of,  310. 

Esther,  the  Feast  of.    See  Purim. 

Ethanim,  name  of  the  seventh 
month,  58. 

Ethics,  the.     See  Aboth. 

E//inah(ta),  an  accent,  308. 

Ethrog,  citron,  322.  See  Lulab, 
the. 

Europe,  the  Jews  of,  begin  their 
literary  activity,  39;  the  Ark  to- 
wards the  East  in  the  Syna- 
gogues of,  66. 

Europe,  northern,  Ashkenazim  in, 
13;  intolerance  of  the  Jews  of, 
41. 


INDEXES 


•165 


Evening  service  (.} fa' a >•//>),  the. 
time  of,  76;  the  Amida  in,  77  ; 
order  of,  80;  abstract  of  the 
Ainida  read  in,  80,  142-3  ;  length 
of,  8 1  ;  the  Sheina  of,  89-94; 
the  Priestly  Blessing  in,  118-19; 
modifications  of  the  Amida  in, 
141  ;  Bible  verses  in,  189-92. 

Excommunication,  effect  of,  upon 
the  standing  in  the  Congrega- 
tion, 69. 

Exile,  the,  the  Chief  of,  powers 
and  character  of,  34. 

Exodus,  the,  mention  of,  in  public 
worship,  76,  91,  103. 

Exodus,  the  Book  of,  divisions  of, 
248 ;  Haftaroth  corresponding 
to  the  divisions  of,  267-8. 

Ezekiel.  the  Book  of,  arranged  by 
the  Great  Synod,  21 ;  the  celes- 
tials in,  51. 

Ezra,  reads  the  Law,  20,  64,  249, 
251  ;  founder  of  the  Great  Syn- 
od, 21  ;  institutes  the  reading  of 
the  Law  on  Monday  and  Thurs- 
day, 251. 

Ezra,  the  Book  of,  the  language 
of,  37- 

Feasts,  the,  the  services  of,  modi- 
fied by  persecutions,  43  ;  in  the 
Scriptures,  62 ;  public,  for 
drouth,  81  ;  the  Amida  of,  138; 
lesson  for,  256 ;  not  on  Sabbath, 
256. 

See  also,  Ab,  the  Ninth  of; 
Gedaliah,  the  Fast  of;  Tam- 
muz,  the  Seventeenth  of;  Te- 
beth,  the  Tenth  of. 

"  Fathers  "  ( A  both).  See  A  mi  da 
the,  the  first  Benediction  of. 

Fayum,  birthplace  of  Saadia,  39. 

Feast,  the.  See  Booths,  the  Feast 
of. 

Feasts,  the  three,  Hallel  on,  24, 
79:  fixed  by  the  Usha  Sanhe- 
drin,  29 ;  observance  of,  dis- 
cussed in  the  East,  35  ;  observ- 
ance of,  treated  of  in  the  Shnl- 
han  Ariich,  42  ;  Midrash  and 
Aggadta  in  the  services  of,  46 ; 
doubling  of,  61  ;  the  Priestly 
Blessing  on,  69,  126;  the  ser- 
vices of,  on  the  same  plan  as 

30 


those  of  work-days,  75 ;  four 
Amufas  on,  79;  length  of  the 
services  on,  81  ;  the  Slicma 
benedictions  on,  93-4 ;  modifica- 
tions of  the  Amida  of,  115-16, 
J43~4!  15°?  the  evening  ser- 
vice of,  191;  "poetries"  for, 
224-5  ;  interrupt  mourning,  331  ; 
modifications  of  Kiddush  on, 
350. 

See  also  Booths;  Passover; 
Pentecost;  Festivals,  the. 

Feasts,  the  three,  the  night  fol- 
lowing, time  of  service  in,  76 ; 
the  first  Middle  Benediction  of 
the  Amida  in,  128, 

Festivals,  the,  the  Middle  Bene- 
diction of  the  Amida  on,  143-7  : 
modifications  of  the  Musaf 
Amida  on,  150-1  ;  Psalms  for, 
183,  184;  the  penitential  Psalm 
omitted  on,  185  ;  study  in  the  ser- 
vice of,  195  ;  Nish'math  on,  208  ; 
"  poetries  "  for,  223,  225-6,  227-8  ; 
benedictions  over  the  Haftara 
on,  277  ;  no  sermon  on  the  eve 
of,  294 ;  the  phylacteries  not 
used  on,  314;  modifications  in 
the  grace  after  meals  for,  342, 
343>  345 ;  Kiddush  for,  350-1  ; 
modifications  of  Habdala  for, 
352. 

See  also  Feasts,the  three;  Atone- 
ment, the  Day  of ;  Booths  ;  New 
Year;  Passover;  Pentecost. 

Festivals,  Half,  the  Amida  of, 
112. 

Fez,  birthplace  of  Isaac  Alfassi, 

39- 

First  Effect,  interposed  between 
God  and  the  world,  50. 

"Forgivenesses."     See  Selihotli. 

"  Formation,  the  Book  of,"  a  Cab- 
balistic work,  52-3 ;  commenta- 
ries on,  53. 

France,  the  Jews  of,  literary  work 
of,  41  ;  use  the  Targum  Jona- 
than, 290-1. 

Frank,  Jacob,  encouraged  by  the 
Cabbala,  56. 

Friday,  the  Day  of  Atonement 
cannot  occur  on,  60 ;  New  Year 
cannot  occur  on,  60 ;  Psalm  for, 
188. 


466       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Fringes,  the,  on  the  corners  of  the 
garments  (TzitzitK),  in  the 
Shema,  91,  101  ;  benediction 
over,  204 ;  petition  before  put- 
ting on,  242-3 ;  when  worn,  312  ; 
regulations  concerning,  312  ;  use 
of,  312-13  ;  in  partial  disuse,  313 ; 
worn  by  the  Pharisees,  313. 

Future  life,  a,  the  belief  in,  embod- 
ied in  the  prayers,  45. 

Gabbai,  vice-president  of  the  Syn- 
agogue, 71. 

Galilee,  the  pronunciation  of  He- 
brew in,  13;  the  Ashkenazic 
ritual  originates  in,  15  ;  the  cen- 
ter of  religious  life,  19,  32  ;  sys- 
tem of  vowel-signs  originated 
in,  38,  311 ;  the  Synagogues  of, 
mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  65  ; 
conversions  in,  135  ;  the  reading 
of  the  Law  in,  249,  274  ;  the  lan- 
guage of,  288. 

Gamaliel  I,  last  President  of  the 
Sanhedrin  at  Jerusalem,  27  ;  in 
A  both,  197  ;  on  the  Seder,  356-7, 
362. 

Gamaliel  II,  on  the  Amida,  128, 
133, 134,  137. 

Gaon,  title  of  the  head  of  the  Sura 
school,  38 ;  position  of,  38-9. 

Geburoth  ("Powers").  See 
Ami  da,  the,  the  second  Bene- 
diction of. 

Gedaliah,  the  Fast  of,  date  of,  62  ; 
Abinu  Malkemt  on,  164. 

Ge-Hinnom,  learned  and  un- 
learned views  of,  28 ;  in  the 
liturgy,  212. 

Geiger,  Dr.  Abraham,  on  prayers 
for  rain,  130. 

Gemara,  the,  completion.  See 
Talmud,  the ;  Talmud,  the 
Babylonian. 

Genesis,  the  Book  of,  divisions  of, 
248 ;  Haftaroth  corresponding 
to  the  divisions  of,  267. 

Geography  in  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  36. 

Geresh,  an  accent,  309. 

German,  spoken  by  Jews  in  Sla- 
vonic countries,  13. 

Germany,  the  Reform  ritual  in, 
1 1  ;  name  and  place  of  the 


Synagogue    platform     in,    64 ; 
early  morning  service  in,  173. 

Germany,  the  Jews  of,  literary 
work  of,  41.  See  Ashkenazim, 
the. 

Germany,  South,  variations  of 
the  liturgy  in,  133. 

Germany,  Western,  variations  of 
the  liturgy  in,  103,  160,219,  222, 
227,  238,  279,320. 

Geulla,  a  "  poetry,"  225. 

Geulla,  the,  the  benediction  after 
the  Shema,  89 ;  in  the  evening 
service,  91-2, 103, 104 ;  short  form 
of,  92-3 ;  connected  with  the 
Amida,  95. 

See  also  under  Shema,  the,  the 
morning  benedictions  of. 

Giddol,  Rabbi,  on  Messianic 
hopes,  36. 

Gnosis,  and  the  Cabbala,  50. 

God,  examples  of  Midrash  con- 
cerning, 47-8 ;  names  of,  52  ; 
names  of,  in  the  Prayer  Book, 
83-4,  114. 

Gospels,  the,  on  the  Pharisees 
and  the  common  people,  27 ; 
mention  of  the  Synagogue  in, 
65 ;  the  reading  of  the  Law 
in,  249;  on  the  phylacteries, 

Government,  the  prayer  for  (Han- 
nothen  TesJiud),  in  the  Mishna, 
217;  Abudraham  on,  217;  in 
Spain,  217;  in  Germany,  218; 
text  of,  218. 

Grace  after  meals,  instituted  by 
the  Pharisees,  24 ;  Biblical  pas- 
sages in,  82  ;  Scriptural  obliga- 
tion of,  86,  339;  number  of 
benedictions  in,  339;  import- 
ance of,  340  ;  the  text  and  analy- 
sis of,  340-7 ;  hymn  in,  346 ; 
modification  of,  for  less  than  a 
meal,  346-7. 

|   Grace  before  meals,  334,  339. 
|  Graetz,  H.,  historian,  predecessor 
of,  39 ;  on  the  reaction  to  Cab- 
balism,  56 ;  quoted,  380. 

Granada,  birthplace  of  Solomon 
the  Levite,  233. 

Great  Synod,  the,  the  period  of, 
20-i ;  constitution  of,  21;  work 
of,  21 ;  maxims  of,  22;  author 


INDEXES 


467 


of  the  Amida,  77,  112,  113;  in 
Aboth,  197. 

Greece,  Jews  in,  32. 

Greek,  in  the  transliteration  of 
Hebrew  names,  13  ;  elements  in 
the  Mishna,  31;  translations 
used  by  the  Jews  of  Egypt,  32  ; 
elements  in  the  Jerusalem  Tal- 
mud, 37  ;  in  the  Midrash  litera- 
ture, 45  ;  names  used  in  the  ser- 
vices, 281  ;  spoken  by  the  Jews, 
288;  held  in  high  esteem,  292: 
decline  of,  among  the  Jews, 
292. 

Habdala  (Separation),  in  the  first 
Middle  Benediction  of  the 
Amida,  128-9;  in  the  Saturday 
riitfat  Amida,  147;  for  a  Festi- 
val on  Saturday  night,  351  ;  text 
and  analysis  of,  351-2;  hymns 
connected  with,  352-3;  in  the 
Synagogue,  353;  antiquity  of, 
354;  aim  of,  354. 

Haberim.     See  Pharisees,  the. 

Hacham,  the  Rabbi  of  the  Sefar- 
dim,  68. 

Had  Gadyo,  explained,  365-6. 

Hadrian,  deportation  of  Jews 
under,  13 

Haftara  (HaftarotJf).  See  Proph- 
ets, the,  the  Books  of,  lessons 
from. 

Hagbaha,  holding  the  scroll  high, 
280,  281-2. 

Haggada.     See  Aggadta. 

Haggada,  the,  of  the  Passover. 
See  Seder,  the. 

Hagiga,  free-will  sacrifice,  358. 

Hagiographa,  the,  Haftaroth 
from,  275. 

Hai,  last  of  the  Geonim,  39;  on 
Kiddush  in  the  Synagogue,  80. 

Hakkafa,  circuit  with  the  scrolls 
of  the  Law,  325. 

Halacha,  the,  legal  portion  of  the 
Talmud,  44,  48. 

Hallel  (Psalms  of  Praise),  the, 
on  Festivals  instituted  by  the 
Pharisees,  24 ;  benediction  be- 
fore, 24 ;  in  the  morning  service, 
79;  written  for  Hanucca,  180; 
when  recited,  180-1,322;  bene- 
dictions for,  181,  182,  323;  re- 


sponses in,  181-2;  name  of 
various  Psalms  or  groups  of 
Psalms.  182  :  text  of  "poetries." 
228;  posture  during,  299;  not 
recited  during  Sliib'a,  330;  in 
the  Seder,  357,  362,  363. 

Hallel,  the  Great(Psalm  136),  182, 
183  ;  at  the  Seder,  363-4. 

Hallel,  the,  of  Egypt.  See  Hal- 
lel, the. 

Hallel,  the  Half,when  recited,  181. 

Hamburg,  the  beginning  of  Re- 
form at,  1 1 ;  Portuguese  Syna- 
gogue in,  16;  a  Sefardic  colony 
in,  43- 

Haflt-Afakom  (the  Place),  name 
of  God,  83. 

Hananiah  ben  Akashiah,  quota- 
tion from,  196. 

Hanina,  Rabbi,  quotation  from, 

'95- 

Hanina  ben  Dosa,  Rabbi,  saying 
of,  198-9. 

Hanina  ben  Teradion,  Rabbi, 
saying  of,  198. 

Hanucca,  Hallel  on,  24,  79,  181  ; 
date  of,  62  ;  the  Atnida  on,  125- 
6;  Hallel  written  for,  180 ; 
the  penitential  Psalm  omitted 
on,  185  ;  omission  from  the  ser- 
vices of,  213;  lesson  on,  256; 
lesson  for,  does  not  displace  the 
Sabbath  lesson,  256 ;  number  of 
scrolls  used  on,  257  ;  Haftaroth 
on,  271 ;  the  lighting  of  the  can- 
dles on,  337-8;  song  for,  338; 
modification  of  the  grace  after 
meals  on,  345. 

Ha-Rahaman,   name  of  God,  83. 

Haroseth,  at  the  Seder,  358,  363. 

Hashkatna,  early  morning  ser- 
vice, 222. 

Hasidiin.  the  (ancient),  the  Pa- 
triots, denounce  the  Hellenists, 
24;  in  the  Amida,  135  ;  institute 
the  Habdala,  354. 

Hasidim,  the  (modern),  the  Pious, 
history  and  principles  of,  17-18; 
hold  the  Zohar  sacred,  56 ;  cause 
splits  in  congregations,  68 ;  va- 
riation in  the  Kedusha  of,  1 16 ; 
the  morning  hymns  of,  183 ;  and 
the  Hosannas,  236 ;  Cabbalistic 
interpolations  in  the  liturgy  of, 


468       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


243 ;  preaching  among,  294 ;  and 
the  pnylacteries,  314. 

Hasmonean  kings,  the,  and  the 
Pharisees,  25. 

Hattarath  Horaa,  the  Rabbinical 
degree,  68. 

Hayim  Vidal,  encouraged  by  the 
Cabbala,  56. 

Hayoth.    See  Beasts. 

Hazan,  the,  overseer,  functions  of, 
69-70;  German  names  of,  69; 
qualifications  of,  70 ;  the  read- 
ing of  the  Law  by,  70,  260 ; 
among  Ashkenazim  and  Sefar- 
dim,  304-5. 
See  also  Leader,  the,  in  prayer. 

Plazon,  a  prophetical  section,  266. 

Head,  the  covering  of,  during 
prayer,  301-2. 

"  Hear,  O  Israel."  See  Stiema,  the. 

Hebrew,  the  language  of  the  ser- 
vices, 13;  pronunciation  of,  13- 
15,  18;  the  language  of  the 
Mishna,  31 ;  in  the  Talmud,  37  ; 
translations  into,  from  Arabic, 
40 ;  the  purity  of,  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  84-5,  212;  example  of 
late,  in  the  Prayer  Book,  90 ;  in 
the  Kaddish,  109 ;  in  theAwu/a, 
119,  129,  140;  decline  of,  288. 

Hechaloth,  Cabbalistic  works.  54. 

Hell.     See  Ge-Hinnom. 

Hellenists,  the,  in  the  Prayer 
Book,  24. 

Herod  I.  the  rule  of,  25. 

Hezekiah,  king,  the  Jewish  Mes- 
siah, 26.  36. 

High  Priests,  the,  learning  a 
qualification  of,  23  ;  relation  of, 
to  the  Sanhedrin,  24 ;  Saddu- 
cees,  25;  the  Mishna  on,  30; 
pronounce  the  Tetragramma- 
ton,  84,  174;  confession  of  sins 
by,  165,  174-5. 

Hillel,  descendants  of.  Patriarchs, 
26,  27  ;  born  in  Babylonia,  31  ;  in 
Aboth,  197  ;  sayings  of,  197,  198. 

Hillel,  the  school  of,  rise  of,  26; 
disputes  of,  with  Shammafs 
school,  27,  147  ;  on  the  reading 
of  the  Shema,  300. 

Hillel  the  Younger,  Patriarch, 
adopts  the  Athenian  calendar, 
33,  59;  on  the  Messiah,  36. 


Hindoo  speculations  in  Philo's 
books,  32. 

History,  in  the  Babylonian  Tal- 
mud, 36. 

Hiya,  teacher  at  Tiberias,  33  ;  in 
the  Seder,  361. 

Hodaia  ("Thanks").  See  Ami- 
da,  the,  the  sixth  Benediction  of. 

Hodesh,  one  of  the  four  distin- 
guished Sabbaths,  257-8;  the 
Haftara  of,  271. 

Ho  Kyrios,  the  Tetragrammaton 
in  Greek,  84. » 

Holem,  pronunciation  of,  14. 

Holy  Ghost,  the,  and  the  Slic- 
china,  51. 

Holy  of  Holies,  the  curtain  of,  in 
the  modern  Synagogue,  66. 

Home  services,  identical  with 
Synagogue  services,  75. 

Horace,  on  Jewish  observances. 

32- 
Horse-radish,  at  the   Seder,  358, 

359.  362. 
Hosannas,    "  poetries "    for    the 

Feast  of  Booths,  223,  227,  236; 

ceremonies  connected  with,  323- 

4,  325. 

Hosha'na,  willow  twigs,  324. 
Hoshana  Rabba.    See  Booths,  the 

Feast  of,  the  seventh  day  of. 
Hungary,     Ashkenazim     in,    13 ; 

Hasidim   in,    17 ;    time  of  the 

morning  service  in,  79. 
Huts,  the  Feast  of.     See  Booths, 

the  Feast  of. 

Ibn-Ezra,  the  brothers,  poets,  39. 

Idumeans,  the,  converted,  135. 

Illustrissimus,  title  of  the  Patri- 
archs at  Tiberias,  38. 

In  Memoriam  prayers,  219-20. 

Incense,  the,  the  composition  of, 
in  the  liturgy,  195. 

Intoning,  the,  of  prayers,  15 

Isaac,  the  binding  of.   SeeAkeda. 

Isaac  Alfassi,  author  of  a  code 
of  Talmudic  law,  39. 

Isaac  Luria(il  Calabrese),  spreads 
the  Zohar,  55. 

Isaiah,  the  Book  of,  the  Messianic 
prophecies  in,  revived,  26 ;  the 
angels  in,  5 1  ;  number  of  Hafta- 
roth  in,  274. 


INDEXES 


469 


Ishmael,  a  sage  of  the   Mishna, 

supposed  author  of  Hechaloth. 

54 :  the  thirteen  rules  of,  in  the 

liturgy,  194. 
Ishmael,   one  of   the   late    High 

Priests,  27. 
Israel  Ba'al  Shem  Tob,  founder 

of  the  Hasidim,  17,  56. 
Isserles.     See  Moses  Isserles. 
Italian  names  used  in  the  services, 

281. 

Italy,  the-Jews  of,  Sefardim,  12. 
lyar,  name  of  the  second  month, 

58;  length  of,  59;  two  days  of 

new  moon  in,  60. 

Jacob,  Rabbi,  saying  of,  199. 

Jacob  Tam,  Rabbenu,  on  the  Col 
Nidre  service,  177  ;  on  the  phy- 
lacteries, 317  ;  on  Shofar  blow- 
ing, 321. 

fakrzeit  (Nahala),  anniversary  of 
the  death  of  parents,  329 ;  youth 
of  custom,  329 ;  service  on, 
331-2. 

Jamnia,  the  center  of  religious 
life,  19,  32  ;  a  school  of  the  Law 
at,  28 ;  school  of,  broken  up, 
29. 

Jannai,  Rabbi,  saying  of,  199. 

Jehuda  the  Pious,  holds  the  Pray- 
er Book  inviolate,  41. 

Jehuda  Hallevi,  poet  and  philos- 
opher, 39  ;  works  of,  translated, 
40 ;  holds  aloof  from  the  Cab- 
bala, 1:4 :  uses  the  Era  of  the 
World,  62 ;  as  liturgical  poet, 
229,  234-5. 

Jeremiah,  the  Book  of,  read  on 
the  Ninth  of  Ab,  286. 

Jerusalem,  the  center  of  religious 
life,  19,  32  ;  lamentation  for,  28- 
9 ;  the  Ark  in  the  direction  of, 
65-6,  300 ;  in  the  Prayer  Book, 
83  ;  Purim  in,  287. 

Jesus,  as  Maftir,  274;  as  preach- 
er, 294. 

Jesus  Sirach.  See  Joshua  ben 
Sira. 

Jethib,  an  accent,  309. 

Jetzira,  a  Cabbalistic  term,  53. 

Jetzira.  See  "  Formation,  the 
Book  of." 

Jewish   Quarterly  Review,   The, 


quoted,  380,  394,  395,  414,416, 
422. 

Jews,  the,  beginning  of  the  dis- 
persion of,  31-2. 

Jislnib.  settlement,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  a  Congregation,  68. 

Jithro,  a  section  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, 248. 

Job,  the  Book  of.  read  on  the 
Ninth  of  Ab,  286-7  ;  the  accents 
of,  308. 

Johanan  ben  ZaccaY,  founder  of 
the  new  Judaism.  27.  28 ;  founds 
a  school  at  Jamnia,  28;  "poet- 
ries "  attributed  to,  228. 

John  Hyrcanus,  the  Sadducees 
under,  25 ;  the  Idumeans  con- 
verted under,  135. 

Jotna,  Mishnic  treatise,  read  on 
Atonement  Day,  202. 

Jonathan  ben  Uzziel,  a  Tanna,  27  ; 
a  Targum  ascribed  to,  29 ). 

Jose,  the  Galilean,  a  Baraitha 
ascribed  to,  n  8;  a  Midrash  as- 
cribed to,  361. 

Joseph  Karo,  compiles  the  Slinl- 
han  Aruc/i,  42.  See  Shit  than 
Antch,  the. 

Josephus,  on  the  period  of  the 
Great  Synod,  21;  on  conver- 
sions to  Judaism,  32;  on  the 
reading  of  the  Law,  249. 

Joshua,  in  the  Aboth,  197. 

Joshua  ben  Levi,  teacher  at  Ti- 
berias, 33 ;  on  the  number  of 
benedictions  in  the  Ainida.  128. 

Joshua  ben  Sira  (Jesus  Sirach), 
on  medicine,  28. 

Jost,  I.  M.,  historian,  predecessor 
of,  39 ;  quoted,  375,  379, 409,  43^. 

Jotzer,  a  "poetry,"  225. 

"Joy  of  the  Law"  (ninth  of 
Booths'),  the  section  of  the  Law 
for,  248,  252,  255  ;  the  Haftara 
for,  270;  the  liturgy  of  the  Ark 
on,  278,  283 ;  ceremonies  con- 
nected with,  325-6. 

Joys,  Treatise  of,  date  and  con- 
tents of,  38. 

Jubilee,  the,  the  Shofar  blown  in 
honor  of,  322. 

Judah  (I)  the  Saint,  the  Sanhedrin 
at  Usha  under.  29:  compiler  of 
the  M  ishna,  30;  disciples  of,  com- 


470       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


pile  additions  to  the  Mishna,  30 ; 
disciple  of,  33 ;  the  Shema  as 
recited  by,  76;  on  the  "Sancti- 
ty of  the  Day,"  147 ;  in  Aboth, 
197  ;  grandson  of,  212. 

Judah  II,  Patriarch,  litany  by, 
212. 

Judaism,  assumes  its  permanent 
form,  27 ;  founder  of  the  new, 
27. 

Judea,  pronunciation  of  Hebrew 
in,  13. 

Judgment,  Day  of.  See  New 
Year,  the. 

Kaddish,  the,  derivation  of,  106  ; 
composition  of,  106 ;  text  of, 
107  ;  when  recited,  107,  187,  191, 
215,  221 ;  important  response  in, 
107 ;  not  mentioned  in  the 
Mishna,  108 ;  at  the  open  grave, 
1 08;  the  language  of,  109; 
Maimonides  on,  109;  Biblical 
passages  connected  with,  in  ; 
conclusion  of,  120. 

Kaddish,  the  Half  (Kaddish 
Le'ella),  text  of,  107 ;  office  of, 
107  ;  when  recited,  187,  188, 190, 
191,  213,  281. 

Kaddish,  the  Mourners',  the  text 
of,  107  ;  not  known  by  the  older 
authorities,  109;  legendary  ori- 
gin of,  109-11;  place  of,  190, 
215;  posture  during,  299. 

Kaddish,  the,  of  the  Rabbis,  text 
of,  ic8;  when  recited,  108,  110, 
332. 

Kaddish  Liella.  See  Kaddish, 
the  Half. 

Kadma,  an  accent,  309. 

Kalir.     See  Eleazar  Kalir. 

Kalonymos,  a  "holy  name,"  281. 

Kametz,  pronunciation  of,  13,311. 

Karaite  sect,  the,  17  ;  the  fringes 
as  worn  by,  313;  on  phylacte- 
ries, 315  ;  on  the  Liilab,  323. 

Karo.     See  Joseph  Karo. 

Kedosliiin,  a  section  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, 248. 

Kedusha,  the.  See  Thrice-Holy, 
the. 

KediisJiatJi  ha-Shetn  ("  Sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  Name  ").  See  Ainida, 
the,  the  third  Benediction  of. 


Kepler,  Moses  Isserles  assistant 
of,  42. 

Keroboth,  "poetries,"  225-6. 

K ether  in  the  third  Benediction 
of  the  Amida,  116. 

Kether  Mat'chuth,  by  Solomon 
Ibn  Gebirol,  236. 

Kef  hid,  252. 

Kiddush,  the,  reason  for,  in  the 
Synagogue,  80;  devotion  dur- 
ing, 306  ;  why  instituted,  348 ; 
text  and  analysis  of,  348-50 ;  in 
the  Synagogue,  353 ;  antiquity 
of,  354 ;  in  the  booth,  355 ;  at 
the  Seder,  358. 

Kiddush,  the  Great,  before  break- 
fast, 354. 

Ki  lo  nae,  364-5 . 

"  Kingdoms,"  Scriptural  passages 
in  the  New  Year  service,  155; 
introduction  to,  156-7 ;  text  of, 
157-8. 

Kings,  the,  relation  of,  to  the  San- 
hedrin,  24 ;  the  Mishna  on,  30. 

Kinoth,  "poetries"  for  the  Ninth 
of  Ab,  223,  238. 

Kislev,  name  of  the  ninth  month, 
58;  length  of,  59;  Hanucca  in,  62. 

Ki  Tissa,  a  section  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, 264. 

Kneeling,  in  the  Jewish  service, 
3001. 

Koran,  the,  God's  name  in,  84. 

K'ri,  252. 

Lamentations,  the  Book  of,  pas- 
sages from,  in  the  Prayer  Book, 
82  ;  read  on  the  Ninth  of  Ab, 
284-5  >  a  Baraitha  on,  286 ;  the 
accents  of,  310. 

Language,  the  science  of,  in  the 
Babylonian  Talmud,  36. 

Latin  elements  in  the  Mishna,  31 ; 
in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  37. 

Law,  the,  the  scrolls  of,  See 
Scrolls  of  the  Law. 

Law,  the  Mosaic,  silent  on  wor- 
ship by  prayer,  21,  24;  literally 
interpreted  by  the  Sadducees, 
23,  24 ;  as  interpreted  by  the 
Pharisees,  24;  commentaries  on, 
contain  Bara'itha,  30 ;  com- 
mandments of,  reduced  to  their 
principles,  33  ;  commentaries  on, 


INDEXES 


471 


40;  two  beginnings  of  the  year 
m>  59  i  where  read  in  the  Syna- 
gogue, 66  ;  passages  from,  in  the 
morning  service,  79, 194 ;  sacred- 
ness  of,  247;  divisions  of, -247- 
9,  250,  263-4 ;  last  passage 
from,  honored,  262  ;  translation 
of,  289 

Law,  the  Mosaic,  the  lessons  from, 
time  of,  79 ;  in  the  morning  ser- 
vice, 79 ;  number  of,  248-9 ;  on 
feasts,  fasts,  and  distinguished 
Sabbaths,  254-8;  -in  the  Tal- 
mud and  the  Mishna,  258-9; 
subdivision  of,  260,  263-4 ; 
analyzed  with  the  correspond- 
ing Haftarotii,  267-70;  which 
of  two  or  more  determines  the 
Haftara,  270-1 ;  the  interpreter 
for,  288-92  ;  paraphrase  of,  for 
women,  291. 

Law,  the  Mosaic,  the  reading  of, 
cycles  of,  16, 250-2;  demanded  by 
Moses,  20 ;  by  Ezra,  20, 64  ;  insti- 
tuted by  the  Pharisees,  24 ;  the 
place  for,  64  ;  in  the  Synagogues 
of  Galilee,  65  ;  by  a  Ba'al  Kore, 
70;  lay  officers  attend,  71 ;  in 
Josephus  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment, 249  ;  antiquity  of,  249-50; 
the  seven-years  cycle  of,  250; 
the  three-years  cycle  of,  250-1, 
251-2,  274-5  ;  the  one-year  cycle 
of,  250,  252  ;  Biblical  basis  of, 
252;  number  engaged  in,  260; 
classes  called  to,  260,  262,  264 ; 
difficulty  of,  260-1 ;  the  benedic- 
tions over,  261-2,  280 ;  the  liturgy 
connected  with,  278-82;  antiquity 
of  "calling  up"  to,  by  name, 
282-3  ?  devotion  during,  306 ; 
according  to  the  accents,  310; 
omitted  during  S/u'Pa,  330. 
Law,  the  oral,  first  germ  of,  21  ; 
on  worship,  21-2  ;  scope  of,  28; 
reduced  to  writing,  30;  embodied 
in  the  Tosifta,  38. 
See  also  Mishna,  the. 
Leader  (Sheliah  Tzibbiir),  the,  in 
prayer,  position  of,  65,  66,  299; 
qualifications  of,  69;  repeats 
the  Amida,  78;  liberty  of,  87; 
address  of,  before  the  Sheina 
benedictions,  105  ;  petition  of, 


on  New  Year,  162  ;  calls  to  the 
reading  of  the  Law,  260 ;  carries 
the  scroll,  279;  the  dress  of,  319. 
See  also  Hazan. 

Leibnitz,  and  the  Cabbala,  53. 

Levites,  the.  privileges  of,  69,  260 ; 
duties  of,  318;  on  the  "Joy  of 
the  Law,"  325. 

Levitical  cleanness,  laws  of,  not 
discussed  in  the  East,  35,  37. 

Leviticus,  the  Book  of,  designa- 
tion of  the  New  Year  in,  59; 
commentary  on,  59;  divisions 
of,  248 ;  Haftaroth  correspond- 
ing to  the  divisions  of,  268-9. 

Lightning,  benediction  over,  334-5. 

Litany,  the,  by  Judah  II,  212. 

Liturgical  poetry.  See  "  Poetries." 

Liturgy,   the,   growth   of,   in   the 
Jerusalem  Talmud,  34. 
See  also  Prayer  Book,  the. 

Logos,  the,  interposed  between 
God  and  the  world,  50. 

London,  Portuguese  Synagogue 
in,  16 ;  a  Sefardic  colony  in,  43. 

"  Lord  of  the  World."  See  "  Mas- 
ter.of  all  Worlds." 

Lord's  Prayer,  the,  in  the  Jewish 
liturgy,  221. 

Luke,  quoted,  274. 

Lulab,  the,  the  festive  bunch,  Bib- 
lical law  concerning,  322  ;  con- 
stituents of,  322;  the  shaking 
of,  322-3 ;  the  Karaites  on,  323. 

Ma'amadoth,  the.  See  Watches, 
the. 

Maccabees,  the,  the  Books  of,  use 
the  Era  of  Seleucus,  62  ;  Syna- 
gogue not  mentioned  in,  65, 249 ; 
quoted,  65. 

Maccabees,  the,  the  Feast  of.  See 
Hanucca. 

Maftir  (leave-giver),  the,  Penta- 
teuch portion  read  by,  264  ;  the 
lesson  from  the  Prophets  read 
by,  265  ;  benedictions  recited  by, 
276-7  ;  on  the  "Joy  of  the  Law," 
326. 

Maggid,  preacher,  48,  293,  295. 

Mahpach,  an  accent,  309. 

Mahusa,  Raba  chief  of  the  school 
at,  36.  See  Babylonia,  the 
schools  of. 


472       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Mahzor,  the  German  Festival 
prayer  book,  223. 

Mahzor  Vitry,  published,  41-2, 
372  ;  on  the  Shema  benedictions, 
98,  101  ;  on  the  Mourners'  Kad- 
aish,no;  omits  lines  iromAbinu 
Malkemt,  164 ;  on  prayers  for 
the  dead,  220;  the  Hosannas  in, 
227  ;  on  "  calling  up  "  by  name, 
282-3 ;  on  Targum  Jonathan, 
290;  on  Targum  of  the  Ten 
Commandments,  291  ;  quoted, 
393.  394,  395,  396,  397,  398,  401, 
402,  403,  406,  407,  409,  410,  411, 

414,415,  430,432,438- 

Maimonides,  Moses,  influence  of, 
on  the  Yemen  Jews,  17;  works 
and  history  of,  40 ;  works  of, 
translated,  40;  creed  of,accepted, 
42 ;  holds  aloof  from  the  Cab- 
bala, 54 ;  on  the  Kaddisk,  109; 
on  "  Master  of  all  Worlds,"  207  ; 
omits  a  Monday  and  Thursday 
prayer,  213;  on  Shofar  blow- 
ing, 321  ;  quoted,  372,387,388, 
396,  397,  402,  404,  407,  408,  409, 
420,  422,  429,43°,  43',  435- 

Makkif,  an  accent,  308. 

Malshinim  (Slanderers),  in  the 
Awida,  133. 

Md'oz  Tziir,  song  for  Hanucca, 
338. 

Marheshvan,  name  of  the  eighth 
month,  58 ;  length  of,  60. 

Mark,  quoted,  89. 

Marriage,  the  laws  of,  in  the  SJiul- 
Jian  A  ruck,  42. 

Martyrs,  prayer  for,  219. 

Martyrs,  the  Ten.  the  Midrash  of, 
in  the  Prayer  Book,  47,  227. 

Masora,  the,  text  tradition,  para- 
graphs of  the  Scriptures  accord- 
ing to.  66. 

Mass  (Missa),  the.  derivation  of, 
265. 

"  Master  of  all  Worlds,"  prayer  in 
the  morning,  206-7,  212  ;  pendant 
to,  212-13;  in  tne  night  prayer 
for  children,  337. 

Mathia,  Rabbi,  saying  of,  199. 

Matthew,  Gospel  of,  example  of 
Midrashic  style  in,  49. 

Meals,  the  importance  of,  in  Jew- 
ish home  life,  339,  348. 


See  also  Grace  after  meals. 

Mechanician,  the,  interposed  be- 
tween God  and  the  world,  50. 

Media,  Little.     See  Adiabene. 

Median,  Esther  translated  into, 
292. 

Medicine,  how  regarded  by  the 
Rabbis,  28 ;  cultivated  by  Sam- 
uel, 34. 

Megilla,  the.  See  Esther,  the 
Book  of. 

Megilloth,  the.  See  Canticles ; 
Ecclesiastes ;  Esther ;  Lamen- 
tations; Ruth. 

Mei'r,  attempts  to  codify  tradi- 
tion, 29-30;  wife  of,  133;  saying 
of,  199 ;  and  the  lessons  from 
the  Law,  258. 

Me'ir  of  Rothenburg,  last  of  the 
Tosafists,  41,  42;  disciple  of, 
42. 

Mekitze  Nirdamim,  the,  publishes 
the  Mahzor  Vitry,  42. 

Memorial,  the  Day  of.  See  New 
Year,  the. 

"  Mercaba,"  51. 

Mer'cha,  an  accent,  309. 

Merciful,  the,  name  of  God,  83. 

Mercy,  the  thirteen  qualities  of. 
See  Thirteen  qualities. 

Meshorerim,  the  choir,  305. 

Mesopotamia,  Jews  in,  31. 

Messiah,  the,  hope  in  the  coming 
of,  strengthened,  26,  29 ;  ful- 
filled in  Hezekiah,  26,  36 ;  the 
Mishna  on,  30;  discussion  on, 
in  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  36 ; 
hope  in,  in  the  prayers,  45  ;  and 
Gog  and  Magog,  46;  of  the 
Cabbala,  55  ;  in  ancient  bene- 
dictions, 87 ;  in  the  Ami  da, 
H3,  J37,  J39J  m  the  Hosannas, 
227. 

Metatron,  in  the  Talmud,  5  r. 

Metheg,  an  accent,  311. 

Methtbatha.  'See  Babylonia,  the 
schools  of. 

Methurgaman,  the,  interpreter, 
why  needed  in  the  Synagogue, 
288 ;  regulations  concerning, 
288-9;  survivals  of,  291-2. 

Meton,  originator  of  the  Athenian 
calendar,  57. 
See  Calendar,  the  Athenian. 


473 


Micali,  the  Messianic  prophecies 
of,  revived,  26. 

Middle  Days,  the,  the  Aboda  of, 
124-5,  J44'  modifications  of  the 
Musaf  Ainida  of,  151  ;  Half 
Hallel  on,  181  ;  the  penitential 
Psalm  omitted  on,  185 ;  omis- 
sion from  the  services  of,  213 ; 
lessons  for,  255-6,  258;  modifi- 
cations in  the  grace  after  meals 
for,  342. 

Midrash,  meaning  of,  44-5  ;  Pales- 
tinian in  origin,  45 ;  not  em- 
bodied in  the  early  prayers,  45  ; 
not  authoritative,  45  ;  examples 
of,  in  the  services,  46 ;  exam- 
ples of,  concerning  God,  47-8 ; 
groundwork  of  the  sermon,  48  ; 
in  the  New  Testament,  49;  dan- 
gers of,  49 ;  resembles  Cabbala, 
50;  on  the  Psalms,  referred  to. 
100;  on  the  Amida,  137  ;  speci- 
mens of,  in  the  Seder,  361. 
See  also  Aggadta. 

Midrash  Rabba,  a  homiletic  work, 
294. 

Minha.  See  Afternoon  service, 
the. 

Minhag,  Portuguese  and  German, 
15-16.  See  Prayer  Book. 

Minian,  requisite  number  of  per- 
sons for  a  public  service,  69, 
1 06 ;  during  Shift  a  at  home, 
330 ;  on  Jahrzeit,  33 1 . 

J /////'///.  Jewish  sectaries,  32,  134; 
none  at  Nehardea,  37;  in  the 
Amida,  133.  134;  not  appli- 
cable to  the  Christians  of  to- 
day, 134. 

Miracles,  attempt  to  explain,  m 
A  both,  199-200. 

Mishna,  the,  on  the  variability  of 
custom,  15;  date  of  the  compi- 
lation of,  19;  on  worship,  22; 
teachers  of,  22 ;  on  the  High 
Priest,  23;  compilers  01,29-30; 
divisions  of,  30;  contents  of, 
30 ;  free  from  superstition,  30-1 ; 
high  morality  of,  31 ;  the  lan- 
guage of,  31  ;  Syrian  Jews  men- 
tioned in,  31  ;  on  the  Mi  nun, 
32  ;  discussions  on,  at  Tiberias, 
33-4 ;  parts  of,  not  discussed  in 
the  East,  35  ;  quotations  from,  in 


the  Talmud,  37 ;  addition  to, 
38 ;  commentary  on,  by  Mai- 
monides,  40 ;  on  mystic  sci- 
ence, 51-2;  use  of  the  word 
Cabbala  in,  56 ;  Eras  used  in, 
62;  on  the  Amida,  78;  passages 
from,  in  the  morning  service, 
79;  on  the  liturgy  of  the 
Watches,  81 ;  on  the  benedic- 
tions, 86,  87  ;  on  the  Shetna,  89 ; 
on  the  Shema  benedictions.  103 ; 
on  responses  to  benedictions, 
105  ;  the  Kaddish  not  mentioned 
in,  1 08 ;  sections  of,  in  the  ser- 
vices, 108;  on  the  prayer  for 
rain,  124,  128 ;  on  the  number 
of  benedictions  in  the  Ainida, 
128;  on  the  "abstract  of  the 
Eighteen,"  138;  on  the  "  Sanctity 
of  the  Day,"  140,  146  ;  on  the 
"  Kingdom  "  verses,  156 :  on  Col 
Nidre,  176;  on  Hallel,  180; 
passages  from,  in  the  liturgy, 
193,  194, 195, 196,  202  ;  on  prayer 
for  the  government,  217  ;  on  the 
lessons  from  the  Law,  258 ;  on 
the  number  called  to  the  read- 
ing of  the  Law,  260,  261  ;  on 
lessons  from  theTrophets,  265  ; 
on  the  Book  of  Esther.  287, 291 ; 
on  the  Methurgaman,  288;  on 
the  fitting  up  of  the  Synagogue, 
299;  on  posture  at  the  Prayer, 
300;  on  the  frame  of  mind  during 
worship,  305  ;  studied  in  a  sing- 
song, 31 1 ;  on  phylacteries,  316  ; 
on  Shofar  blowing,  320 ;  on  the 
period  of  mourning,  331;  a 
passage  from,  read  on  Jakrseit, 
332  ;  on  the  education  of  chil- 
dren, 334 ;  on  grace  after  meals, 
341,  345;  on  the  Seder,  356-7, 
360,  362. 
See  also  Sages,  the. 

Misnagiiim,  opponents  of  the 
Hasidim,  294. 

Mohammed,  borrows  an  appella- 
tion of  God,  83. 

Molad,  beginning  of  the  month, 
58.  See  Months,  the  Jewish; 
New  moon. 

Monday  (and  Thursday),  reading 
of  the  Law  on,  64,  251,  264; 
prayers  peculiar  to,  186-7,213-14, 


474       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


240;    Psalm   for,    188;    lessons 
for,  displaced,  256. 

Months,  the  Jewish,  begin  with 
the  new  moon,  57 ;  length  of, 
57-8,  59-60;  number  of,  in  a 
year,  58 ;  names  of,  58 ;  celebra- 
tion of  the  beginning  of,  60. 
See  also  New  Moon. 

Moon,  the,  the  blessing  of,  354-5. 

Morality,  the,  of  the  Mishna, 
31 ;  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud, 

36-7- 

More  Nebuchim.  See  "  Teacher 
of  the  Perplexed,"  the. 

Morio,  the  Tetragrammaton  in 
Syriac,  84. 

Morning  service  (ShaharitJi),  the, 
duration  of,  76;  the  Amida  in, 
77-8;  time  of,  79;  composition 
of,  79;  the  Shema  of,  89,  91,  95- 
104 ;  the  Priestly  Blessing  in, 
1 18 ;  modifications  of  iheAmtda 
in,  141  ;  the  hymns  of,  182-5, 
207,  208, 242  ;  Biblical  verses  in, 
1 86-8. 

Moses,  in  A  both,  197. 

Moses  de  Leon,  author  of  the 
Zohar,  54,  55. 

Moses  ben  Kalonymos,  introduces 
Rabbinic  learning  in  Germany, 

39- 
Moses  ben  Nahman,  philosopher 

and  mystic,  40,  54  ;  Pentateuch 

commentary  by,  40,  41,  59. 
Moses,  the  son  of  Maimun.     See 

Maimonides. 
Moses     Isserles,    annotates     the 

Shnlhan  Aruc/i,  42. 
Mourners,   await   the    announce- 
ment of  the  -Sabbath,  67. 
Mourning,  rules  of,  in  the  Treatise 

of  Joys,  38  ;  for  whom  kept,  329 ; 

length   of    period   of,   331 ;   by 

what  interrupted,  331. 
Aftinah,  an  accent,  309. 
Mnsaf,  the.  See  "  Additional  " 

Amida,  the. 
Music,  the,  of  the  Synagogue,  n, 

12,  304-5- 
Mystics,  the.     See  Cabbala,  the. 

Nabloos,  the  Samaritans   in,  17. 
Nachmanides.      See   Moses   ben 
Nahman. 


Nahala,  anniversary  of  the  death 
of  parents,  329.  See  Jahr- 
zeit. 

Name,  the.  See  Tetragramma- 
ton, the. 

Names,  the,  used  in  the  service, 
281. 

Natronai,  a  prominent  Gaon,  39. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  referred  to,  31, 
33.  62,  64. 

Nazareth,  a  synagogue  service  in, 

274- 

Negina.     See  Accents. 

Nehardea,  Samuel  head  of  the 
school  at,  34;  succeeded  by 
Pumbeditha,  35  ;  free  from  Min- 
jmi  37  i  sea-t  °f  a  central  au- 
thority, 45. 

See  also  Babylonia,  the  schools 
of. 

Nehemiah,  governor  of  the  re- 
turned Jews,  20. 

Nehemiah,  the  Book  of,  designa- 
tion of  the  New  Year  in,  59. 

Nehonia  ben  Hakkana,  the  Baliir 
ascribed  to,  54,  241. 

Neila,  the  fifth  service  of  the  Day 
of  Atonement,  79;  the  Amida 
of,  122,  123;  the  confession  of 
sins  in,  167-8,  171-2  ;  the  close  of, 
178  ;  the  Selihoth  of,  239-40. 
See  also  Atonement,  the  Day  of. 

Neo-Platonism,  and  the  Cabbala, 

So- 
New  moon,  the,  beginning  of  the 
Jewish   month,  57 ;   of    Tishri, 
60;     announcement    of,     61-2, 
218-19. 

New  Moons,  the,  fixed  by  the 
Sanhedrin,  29;  cease  to  be  pro- 
claimed, 33  ;  half  holidays,  60  ; 
four  A  mi  das  on,  79;  Hallel  on, 
79,  8 1  ;  length  of  the  services 
on,  81  ;  the  "Additional  "  Ami- 
da  on,  112,  151-4  ;  the  Aboda  of, 
124-5,  J44 ;  the  penitential 
Psalm  omitted  on,  185 ;  the 
evening  service  of,  189;  omis- 
sion from  the  services  of,  213; 
lessons  for,  256 ;  lessons  of,  do 
not  displace  the  Sabbath  lesson, 
256  ;  number  of  scrolls  used  on, 
257,  258 ;  the  Haftaroth  con- 
nected with,  271 ;  modifications 


INDEXES 


475 


in  the  grace  after  meals  for,  342, 

343,  345- 

New  Testament,  the,  translitera- 
tion of  Hebrew  names  in,  13  ;  on 
the  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  32; 
examples  of  Midrashic  style  in, 
49 ;  on  the  reading  of  the  Law, 
249. 

New  Year  (Day  of  Memorial), 
the,  ceases  to  be  proclaimed, 
33;  a  Midrash  concerning,  45-6  ; 
Biblical  designation  of,  59;  oc- 
currence of.  60;  date  of,  61 ; 
two  days  of,  61  ;  the  "Addi- 
tional "  A  ruida  of,  112  ;  modifi- 
cations of  the  A  niida  on,  121-3, 
140,  144,  145-6,  155 ;  modifica- 
tions of  the  Musdf  Amida  on,  I 
150-1,  155-64;  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, 158,  160;  Abinu  Malkenit 
on,  162-4;  Psalm  on,  183;  the 
evening  service  of,  191  ;  the 
Psalter  read  on,  192  ;  a  Mishnic 
treatise  read  on,  202  ;  "  poetries  " 
on,  225,  226,  227 ;  Cabbalistic 
petitions  in  the  service  of, 
243 ;  lessons  on  the  second 
Sabbath  before,  251  ;  lesson 
on,  254,  258;  the  Haftaroth 
for,  272  ;  benediction  over  the 
Haftara  on,  277  ;  kneeling  dur- 
ing the  service  of,  301 ;  devo- 
tion on,  303 ;  the  Shofar  blow- 
ing on,  319-22  ;  ends  the  Shift  a, 
331 ;  modifications  of  Kiddush 

on,  35°,  35'- 

See   also    "  Kingdoms ;"    "  Re- 
membrances;"   "  Shofaroth." 

Nice,  Council  of,  fixes  the  date  of 
Easter,  59. 

Night  prayer  for  children,  335-7. 

Nisan,  name  of  the  first  month, 
58 ;  beginning  of  the  year  in, 
59;  length  of,  59;  the  new  moon 
of,  60  ;  the  Passover  in,  60,  257  ; 
number  of  scrolls  on  the  New 
Moon  of,  258. 

Nisi?  math,  introduction  to  a 
"  Benediction  of  Song,"  208 ;  at 
the  Seder,  364. 

Noah,  a  section  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, 248. 

Numbers,  the  Book  of,  passages 
from,  in  the  Prayer  Book,  82 ; 


divisions  of,  248 ;  Haftaroth 
corresponding  to  the  divisions 
of,  269-70. 

Of  an,  a  "  poetry,"  225. 

Ofannim.     See  Wheels. 

Old  Testament,  Greek.  See  Sep- 
tuagint,  the. 

On  i  .  I  ni  Ho  in  a,  metrical  version 
of,  236. 

Outer  days,  the  (between  Pass- 
over and  Pentecost),  in  the  Cab- 
bala, 53 ;  the  Ethics  read  on 
the  Sabbaths  of,  196 ;  the  bene- 
diction for,  211. 

"One  Kid!"  365-6. 

Onkelos.     See  Targum  Onkelos. 

Orah  Hayitn,  a  section  of  the 
Shttlhan  Aruch,  42;  quoted, 
387,  388,  393,  4oi,  4C2,  403.  405, 
407,  415,  419,  420,  421,  422,  423, 
424,  425. 

Ordination,  the,  of  Rabbis,  68. 

Ormuzd,  protest  against,  in  the 
benedictions,  96. 

"  Our  Father,  our  King.''  Sec 
Abinu  Malkenu. 

Paietan,  Jewish  liturgical  poet, 
222. 

Palestine,  under  foreign  domina- 
tion. 21 ;  the  three-years  cycle 
of  the  reading  of  the  Law  in, 
250-1. 

Para,  one  of  the  four  distin- 
guished Sabbaths,  257-8;  the 
Haftara  of,  271. 

Parasha,  a  section  of  the  Mosaic 
Law,  247. 

Paris,  Portuguese  Synagogue  in, 
16. 

Parnax.  business  head  of  the 
Synagogue,  71;  paid  official 
under,  71. 

Parsley,  at  the  Seder,  358;  359. 

Parthia,  the  kings  of,  the  Era  of, 
used  by  the  Jews,  62. 

Passover,  the  Feast  of  the 
(Pesak/i),  half-yearly  meetings 
of  the  schools  in  the  month 
before,  37;  sheaf  of  barley 
offered  during.  58 ;  and  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  calendar,  59 ; 
beginning  of  the  year  in  the 


4/6       JEWISH  SER  VICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


month  of,  59 ;  date  of,  60 ;  ser- 
vices of  the  first  day  of,  124  ; 
modifications  of  the  Amida  of, 
143;  the  Hallel  on,  180,  181 ; 
Psalms  on,  183  ;  the  penitential 
Psalm  omitted  in  the  month 
before,  185  ;  the  souls  of  the 
dead  remembered  on  the  eighth 
of,  219;  lessons  on,  254,  255, 
258 ;  number  of  scrolls  used  on, 
256-7  ;  the  reading  of  the  Law 
on,  264;  the  Haftaroth  for, 
271-2;  Canticles  read  on,  284, 
286. 

See  also  Seder,  the;  Feasts,  the 
three ;  Festivals,  the. 

Passover  lamb  (Pesakh),  the, 
sacrificed  by  the  Samaritans, 
17  ;  principal  dish  at  the  Seder, 
356,  357,  358,  362. 

"Path  of  Life."  See  Orah 
Hayim. 

Patriarchate,  the,  hereditary  with 
Hillel's  descendants,  26 ;  seat 
of,  at  Tiberias,  33 ;  title  at- 
tached to,  38;  at  Tiberias, 
adopts  the  Metonic  calendar, 

57- 

Patriarchs,  the,  proclaim  the  new 
moon,  57 ;  announce  the  new 
moon,  61-2. 

Pashta,  an  accent,  309. 

Patriots,  the.     See  Hasidim,  the. 

Paul  of  Tarsus,  teacher  of,  27  ; 
Philo  contemporary  of,  32  ;  in- 
troduces the  covered  head  dur- 
ing worship,  302. 

Pazer,  an  accent,  309. 

Penitential  days,  the,  modification 
of  the  A  inida  on,  121-2  ;  Abinu 
Malkenn  on,  163;  the  order  of 
confession  on,  173;  Selihoth 
on,  227. 

Penitential  Psalm,  the,  when  re- 
cited, 185-6;  posture  during, 
301  ;  omitted  during  Shib'a, 
331 ;  omitted  at  a  wedding, 

332. 
Pentateuch,   the.      See   Law,  the 

Mosaic  ;  Scriptures,  the. 
Pentecost,  date  of,  61  ;  character 

of,    6 1  ;      modification    of     the 

Amida  of,  144  ;  Ha/lel  on,  180; 

Psalm   on,    183 ;    Mishnic  pas- 


sages read  on,  202  ;  prayer  for 
martyrs  on  the  Sabbath  before, 
219;  prayers  for  the  dead  on 
the  second  of,  219;  lesson  on 
the  second  Sabbath  before, 
251;  lesson  for,  254,  255,  258; 
the  Haftaroth  for,  272  ;  Ruth 
read  on,  284,  286 ;  poem  in  Ara- 
maic for,  291-2. 

See  also  Feasts,  the  three  ;  Fes- 
tivals, the. 

"People  of  the  land."  See  Am 
ha-aretz,  the. 

Pericles,  the  Metonic  calendar 
introduced  in  the  days  of,  57. 

Persecutions,  slight  influence  of, 
on  the  services,  43. 

Persia,  the  dualism  of,  protest 
against,  in  the  benedictions,  96. 

Persian  elements,  in  the  Baby- 
lonian Talmud,  37  ;  in  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  51. 

Perushim  (Perishini).  .5V<?  Phari- 
sees, the. 

Pesik,  an  accent,  309. 

Pesikta,  the,  the  prayers  for  the 
dead  traced  to,  220 ;  on  the 
Haftaroth,  273. 

Pharisees,  the,  names  of,  23 ; 
principles  of,  23-4  ;  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Law  by,  24  ;  and  the 
Hasmonean  kings,  25 ;  opposi- 
tion of,  to  the  common  people, 
27-8 ;  in  the  Babylonian  Tal- 
mud, 37  ;  use  of  the  fringes  by, 
313;  the  phylacteries  worn  by, 
316;  and  the  Kiddnsh,  354. 

Philo,  philosophy  of,  32. 

Pliinehas,  section  in  the  Penta- 
teuch, 270. 

Phylacteries,  the,  rules  for  the 
preparation  of,  38,  316;  a  Mid- 
rash  on  God  wearing,  47-8 ; 
benediction  over,  204 ;  when 
worn,  312,  314,  316;  meaning 
of,  313 ;  in  the  Pentateuch,  313- 
14;  construction  of,  314;  how 
used,  314-15  ;  explanation  of  the 
command  of,  315-16  ;  in  the  Tal- 
mud, 316;  universality  of,  317. 

Pilate,  Pontius,  the  reading  of  the 
Law  under,  249. 

Piyut,  liturgical  poetry  of  the 
Jews,  222.  See  "  Poetries,"  the. 


INDEXES 


477 


,  "  poetry,"  226,  240. 
Platonic  speculations   in   Philo's 

books,  32. 
Poietcs,  Jewish   liturgical   poets, 

2  "*  ° 

"  Poetries,"  the,  dropped  in  the 
modern  services,  12,  222  ;  in  the 
Sefardic  and  the  Ashkenazic 
prayer  books,  16-17,  223-4  5  by 
1  Eleazar  Kalir,  39  ;  Midrash  and 
Aggadta  in,  46;  affect  the 
Snema  benedictions,  93,  103 ; 
on  Passover  and  the  eighth  of 
Booths,  124;  three  characteris- 
tics of,  222-3 ;  in  the  Afahzor, 
223 ;  adopted  by  the  Sefardim, 
223-4  ;  in  what  parts  of  the  ser- 
vice introduced,  224-8 ;  motif 
underlying,  227-8  ;  oldest  author 
of,  228  ;  characteristics  of,  229- 
30;  specimens  of,  231-40;  at 
the  Seder,  364-6. 

Poland,  Ashkenazim  in,  13;  Hasi- 
dtm  in,  17  ;  permanent  officials 
in,  for  the  reading  of  the 
Prophets,  70. 

Poland,  the  Jews  of.  See  Ash- 
kenazim, the. 

Poland,  Russian,  music  in  the 
Synagogues  of,  12. 

Pompey,  referred  to,  22. 

Portugal,  the  Jews  of,  Sefardim, 
12.  See  Sefardim,  the. 

Portuguese  ritual,  Jews  of  the.  See 
Sefardim. 

Posture,  in  the  Jewish  service, 
299-301. 

"Powers"  (GeburotK).  See  Ami- 
da,  the,  the  second  Benediction 
of. 

Prayer,  the  obligation  of,  not 
supported  by  Scriptures,  24; 
few  forms  of,' in  the  Jerusalem 
Talmud,  34 ;  order  of,  fixed  by 
Rab  and  Samuel,  34;  forms  of, 
discussed  in  the  East,  35 :  ma- 
terial for  the  history  of,  in  the 
Barai'tha,  35 ;  legend  excluded 
from,  by  the  Emoraim,  36-7 ; 
in  the  Synagogues  of  Galilee,  65. 

Prayer,  the.     See  Amida,  the. 

Prayer  Book,  the,  early  elements 
of,  19-20;  the  Hellenists  in,  24: 
influenced  by  the  Messianic  be- 


lief, 26,  28-9:  analyzed  by  Mai- 
monides.  40;  analyzed  by  Abu- 
draham,  41;  held  inviolate  by 
the  Rabbis  of  Germany,  41  ; 
Maimonldes1  creed  in,  42; 
treated  of  in  the  Shiilhan  A>- 
ncli.  42  :  little  modified  by  per- 
secutions, 43  ;  beliefs  and  hopes 
incorporated  in,  45 ;  obliga- 
tory portions  of,  early.  45 ;  ex- 
amples of  Midrash  in,  45-6 ; 
Cabbalistic  interpretation  of  the 
oldest  parts  of,  52 ;  influenced 
by  Hechalotk,  54 ;  influenced  by 
the  Zohar,  55-6;  most  import- 
ant parts  of,  75,  76;  persistence 
of  new  elements  in,  80 ;  changes 
in,  in  late  centuries,  81 ;  contains 
Scriptural  passages,  82-3  :  style 
of  the  un-Scriptural  portions  of, 
83 ;  breadth  of  the  spirit  of,  83  : 
the  names  of  God  in,  83-4 ; 
study  as  part  of,  193-202  ;  Cab- 
balistic influence  upon,  241 ;  re- 
cent additions  to,  of  inferior 
value,  243-4. 

Prayer  Book,  the  Ashkenazic,  ori- 
gin of,  15  ;  "  poetries  "  in,  17  ;  in- 
fluenced by  the  Sefardic  Min- 
liag.  43  ;  agreement  of,  with  the 
Sefardic,  87, 98 ;  example  of  late 
Hebrew  in,  90. 

Prayer  Book,  the  Polish,  peculi- 
arities of,  176-7,  201,  206,  219, 

222,  227,  238,  279,  325. 

Prayer  Book,  the  Sefardic,  origin 
of,  15  ;  free  from  "poetries,"  16; 
adopted  by  the  Yemen  Jews,  17  ; 
used  by  the  Hasidim.  iS;  in- 
troduced in  the  Orient  by  Mai- 
monides,  40 ;  influenced  by  the 
Ashkenazic  Minhag,  43  ;  agree- 
ment of,  with  the  Ashkenazic, 
87.08;  omission  in  the  Shcina 
benedictions  in,  98. 

Prayer  Books,  arrangement  of  the 
German  and  Sefardic,  223-4. 

Prayer  Books,  differences  be- 
tween the  Ashkenazic  and  the 
Sefardic,  90,  91,  93-4,  101,  103, 
no,  115-16, 118, 119, 122, 123, 124, 

130,  131.  »33i  i35»  '36,  137,  HI, 
145,  146,  149,  150,  151,  153-4,  159, 
163,  164,  176,  177,  178-*).  i Si.  iS;,. 


478       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


185,  188,   189,  190,  191,  195,  196, 

2O2,  205,  2O6,  2O7,  211,  212,  213, 
214,  215,  2l6,  2l8,  219,  222,  223, 
224,  225,  230,  234,  241,  247,  254, 
266,  267,  268,  269,  273,  277,  278, 
279,  280,  28l,  282,  284,  287,  291, 

292>  294, 3OI>  3°4,  3°9-IO>  3!3> 3M, 
320,  322,  329,  330,  335,  336,  341, 

342,  345.  363>  364,  366. 

Prayers.  See  Abinu  Malkenuj 
A  don  Olam;  Akeda;  Alenu; 
Akdamoth  Millin;  Ami  da, 
the;  "Benediction  of  Song;" 
Benedictions,  the;  Confession, 
Order  of;  EnKeloJienu;  Gov- 
ernment, the  prayer  for;  Hab- 
dalaj  Kaddish,  the;  Kiddush, 
the ;  Litany,  the ;  "  Master  of  all 
Worlds;"  Nish'math;  Night 
prayer  for  children ;  "  Reception 
of  the  Sabbath ;"  Selihoth,  the ; 
Shema,  the;  (J-Ba  le-Tzion; 
U-ncthanne  tokef;  Vehu  Ra- 
hum  ;  Yigdal ;  Yekuin  Purkan. 

Preacher,  the,  position  of,  in  the 
Synagogue,  66,  299 ;  usually  the 
Rabbi,  69. 

Preaching,  among  the  Jews,  293  ; 
Rabbinic  rule  concerning,  293-4; 
time  for,  294-5  ;  rare  among  the 
Jews,  294-5  ;  needed  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century,  295. 

Presbyter os,  priest,  a  corruption 
of,  69. 

Priestly  Blessing,  the,  recital  of, 
ordained,  20;  given  by  a  Cohen, 
69,  318;  the  Tetragrammaton 
pronounced  in,  84 ;  history  of, 
126;  benediction  before,  127; 
not  read  on  the  Ninth  of  Ab, 
127;  Cabbalistic  prayers  con- 
nected with,  243 ;  when  given, 
318 ;  ceremonies  connected  with, 
318-19. 

Sec  also  A  nnda,  the.  the  seventh 
Benediction  of. 

Priests.     See  Cohanim,  the. 

Property,  the  laws  of,  in  the  Baby- 
lonian Talmud,  35,  36 ;  in  the 
Shulhan  Aruch,  43. 

Prophets,  the,  in  Aboth,  197. 

Prophets,  the,  the  Books  of,  Mes- 
sianic promises  in,  26;  expounder 
of,  27  ;  which  books  so  classed, 


265  ;  the  number  of  Jlafiaroth 
in,  274 ;  translation  of,  290. 

Prophets,  the,  the  Books  of,  les- 
sons from  (Haftaroth}.  in  the 
Synagogues  of  Galilee,  65 ; 
where  read,  66;  difficulty  and 
honor  of  reading,  70  ;  antiquity 
of,  265 ;  when  read,  265 ;  by 
whom  read,  265  ;  classes  of,  265- 
6 ;  for  the  Sabbath  and  Festi- 
vals enumerated  and  described, 
266-73  j  accompanying  two  or 
more  lessons  from  the  Penta- 
teuch, 270-1  ;  length  of,  273-4  ; 
accompanying  the  Palestinian 
cycle,  274-5  ;  in  the  afternoon 
service,  275  ;  benedictions  over, 
276-7,282,  310;  the  interpreter 
for,  288-92 ;  in  modern  lan- 
guages, 291 ;  the  reading  of,  ac- 
cording to  the  accents,  310. 

Prophets,  the  Minor  (the  Twelve), 
the  Books  of,  arranged  by  the 
Great  Synod,  21  ;  the  number 
of  Haftaroth  in,  274. 

Proverbs,  the  Book  of,  verses 
from,  in  the  Prayer  Book,  82  ; 
the  accents  of,  308. 

Proseuche,  house  of  prayer,  in 
Maccabees,  65. 

Provence, the  Jews  of,Sefardim,  1 2. 

Psalm,  the  penitential.  See  Peni- 
tential Psalm,  the. 

Psalms,  the,  late  date  of  some  of, 
21;  Messianic  promises  in,  26; 
in  the  morning  service,  79 ;  in 
the  Prayer  Book,  82,  180-92; 
the  Sabbath,  a  writer  of,  100; 
read  at  various  times,  192  ;  the 
accents  of,  308  ;  for  the  days  of 
the  week,omitted  during  Shift  a, 

33°- 
Psalms  of  praise  (-Psalms  113-1 18). 

See  Ha  I  lei. 

Ptolemies,  the,  referred  to,  21. 
Pumbeditha,  the   discussions   at, 

form  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  35 ; 

regains  importance,  38 ;  seat  of  a 

central  authority,  45,   216,  251. 

See  also  Babylonia,  the  schools 

of. 
"  Punishments,"  Haftaroth,  265, 

266,  270. 
Purim,    date    of,    62,     287 ;    the 


INDEXES 


479 


Aii/ida  on,  125;  the  penitential 
Psalm  omitted  on,  185  ;  omis- 
sion from  the  services  of,  213; 
lesson  for,  256  ;  not  on  Sabbath, 
256 ;  Esther  read  on,  284 ; 
modification  of  the  grace  after 
meals  on,  345. 

Pythagorean,  speculations  in  Plii- 
lo's  books,  32  ;  love  for  num- 
bers, 53,  54. 

"  Questions  and  Responses,"  the 
decisions  of  the  Geonim,  39. 

Rab.     See  Abba  Areka. 

Raba,  on  the  treatment  of  wives, 
36. 

Rabbi,  the,  of  a  Synagogue,  lec- 
tures at  the  Belli  ffaui/iu'dms/i, 
67  ;  rank  and  duties  of,  68  ;  name 
of,  among  the  Sefardim,  68 ; 
meaning  of  the  title  of,  68  ;  ordi- 
nation of,  in  Palestine,  68 ;  has 
no  part  in  the  services  of  the 
Synagogue,  68. 

Rabina,  reduces  the  Babylonian 
Talmud  to  writing,  36. 

Rain,  prayer  for,  in  the  Amida, 
123-4,  130-1. 

Rapoport,   restores  the  Pesikta, 

273- 
Rashi.     See  Solomon  ben  Isaac. 

Rebia,  an  accent,  309. 

"  Reception  of  the  Sabbath,"  188, 

233-4,  244. 

"  Redeemer,  A,  will  come  to  Zion. 
See  U-Ba  le-fzion. 

Redemption.     See  Geulla,  the. 

Red  Sea  Song,  the,  in  the  liturgy, 
82,  92, 103, 185  ;  the  text  of  Pass- 
over "  poetries,"  228  ;  in  Beshal- 
lah,  248  ;  how  honored,  262,  300  ; 
when  omitted.  330. 

Reform  ritual,  the,  beginning  of, 
1 1 ;  extent  of  use  of,  1 1 ;  and 
music,  12;  causes  the  multipli- 
cation of  congregations,  68. 

"Remembrances,"  Scriptural 
passages  in  the  New  Year  ser- 
vice, 155  ;  text  of,  158-60;  devel- 
opment from,  170. 

"  Repentances,"  Haftaroth,  265, 
266. 

Reshe  Calla, heads  of  assembly,  37. 


Rcsh    (.ichitlm.      Sec    Kxile,    the, 

the  Chief  of. 
Kesh  Lakish,  teacher  at  Tiberias. 

33- 

Responses,  mark  the  difference 
between  public  and  private  wor- 
ship, 75  ;  to  benedictions,  105-6, 
205;  importance  of,  106;  in  the 
Kaddisk,  106, 107  ;  Barai'tha  on, 
1 08;  in  the  K edits  ha,  114-15  ;  in 
the  Priestly  Blessing,  u8,  127; 
in  the  Amida,  123, 124, 125,  152; 
in  the  confession  of  sins,  169, 
171-2;  in  Hallel,  181 ;  posture 
during  the  principal,  299 ;  to  be 
said  aloud,  303-4 ;  children 
trained  to  make,  337 ;  in  the 
grace  after  meals,  340. 

Resurrection,  denied  by  the  Sad- 
ducees,  23 ;  in  the  second  Bene- 
diction of  the  Amida,  114;  in 
the  benedictions  at  rising,  203. 

Revelation,  the  Sinaic,  celebrated 
on  Pentecost,  61. 

Rhine,  the,  Jews  deported  to,  29. 

Ritual.     See  Prayer  Book. 

R'mo.    See  Moses  Isserles. 

"  Rock  from  whose  wealth  we  have 
eaten,"  346. 

Rome,  early  presence  of  Jews  in, 

Rosh.     See  Asher. 

Rosh  Hashana,  Mishnic  treatise, 
read  on  New  Year,  202. 

Rosh  Hodesh.  See  New  Moons, 
the. 

Roumania,  Ashkenazim  in,  13. 

Russia,  music  in  the  Synagogues 
of,  12 ;  Ashkenazim  in,  13 ;  Hani- 
dim  in,  17. 

Ruth,  the  Book  of,  read  on  Pen- 
tecost, 284,  286. 

Saadia,  Gaon,  39;  activities  of, 
39 ;  oh  the  Shema  benedictions, 
98  ;  on  the  Musaf  Amida,  149. 

Sabbath,  the,  beginning  of,  57 ; 
reading  of  the  Law  on,  64 ;  to 
be  consecrated  at  the  supper 
table,  80;  a  Psalm  writer,  100; 
reception  of,  188;  Purim  and 
the  fasts  not  on,  256 ;  the  les- 
sons of,  when  displaced,  256; 
no  sermon  on  the  eve  of,  294 ; 


480 


the  phylacteries  not  used  on, 
314 ;  the  Shofar  and  Lulab  not 
used  on,  322  ;  interrupts  Shift  a, 
331  ;  modifications  in  the  grace 
after  meals  for,  342-3,  345. 

Sabbath,  the,  the  night  follow- 
ing, time  of  service  in,  76 ;  the 
first  Middle  Benediction  of  the 
Amida  in,  128;  modification  of 
theAmida  in,  147  ;  Psalm  verses 
for,  189,  191. 

Sabbath,  the,  the  observance  of, 
mentioned  by  Horace,  32 ;  dis- 
cussed in  the  East,  35  ;  treated 
of,  in  the  Shulhan  Aruch,  42; 
determines  the  occurrence  of 
the  Day  of  Atonement,  etc.,  60. 

Sabbath  services,  the,  on  the 
same  plan  as  work -day  ser- 
vices, 75  ;  four  Amidas  in,  79; 
length  of,  8 1 ;  the  She  ma  bene- 
dictions of,  934,  98-9;  modi- 
fications of  the  Amida  in,  112, 

.  115,  140-3;  modifications  of  the 
Musaf  Amida  in,  149-50,  151, 
152-4;  omission  of  Abimi  Mal- 
kenu  from,  164  ;  Psalms  in,  183, 
184,  188,  189;  the  penitential 
Psalm  omitted  from,  185;  Tal- 
mudic  passages  in,  195  ;  JVis/i'1- 
math  in,  208 ;  lessons  from  the 
Law  in,  251,  264  ;  lessons  from 
the  Prophets  in,  265-71;  bene- 
diction over  the  Haftara  on, 277. 

"  Sabbath  of  Repentance,''  the, 
sermon  on,  294. 

Sabbath,  the  Great,  the  Haftara 
for,  271  ;  sermon  on,  294. 

Sabbaths,  distinguished,  "  poe- 
tries" for,  223;  the  origin  of, 
and  lessons  for,  257-8;  the 
Haftaroth  of,  271. 

Sabbatic  year,  the,  influences  the 
calendar,  59. 

Sacrament,  the  Christian,  de 
rived  from  the  Kiddush*  348. 

Sacrifices,  treated  of  in  the  Mish- 
na,  30  ;  replaced  by  the  Musaf 
service,  148;  a  Mishnic  chapter 
on,  in  the  liturgy,  193-4;  re- 
placed by  lessons  from  the 
Law,  259. 

Sadducees,  the,  the  founder  and 
principles  of,  23 ;  interpret  the 


Mosaic  law  literally,  24;  history 
of,  24-5 ;  in  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  37  ;  in  the  Ainida, 

133. 134- 

Safet,  home  of  Solomon  the 
Levite,  233. 

Sages  (Rabbinical  teachers),  the, 
persecuted  under  the  Hasmo- 
neans,  25  ;  favor  Agrippa  I,  26  ; 
of  the  Mishna  and  their  suc- 
cessors, 30  ;  illustration  of  the 
method  of,  45  ;  at  Tiberias,  ex- 
plain the  four  cups  of  wine  at 
the  Seder,  48;  on  the  Amida 
of  the  "Additional,"  78;  on 
preaching,  293  ;  on  modern  lan- 
guages for  prayer,  306. 
See  also  Mishna,  the. 

Saladin,  Maimonides  physician 
to,  40. 

Salome,  queen,  and  the  Pharisees, 

25.  135'  340. 

Salt,  on  the  first  morsel,  a  Phari- 
see custom,  24. 

Salt-water,  at  the  Seder,  358,  359. 

Samaritans,  the,  sacrifice  the 
Passover  lamb,  17;  date  of  the 
Pentecost  among,  61 ;  response 
to  the  benedictions  of,  105. 

Samuel,  head  of  the  school  at 
Nehardea,  34,  36;  order  of 
prayer  fixed  by,  34  ;  "  abstract 
of  the  Eighteen"  by,  139. 

Samuel  the  Little,  on  the  Ainida, 

'33.  J34- 

Samuel  ben  Kalonymos,  supposed 
author  of  "  Song  of  Glory," 
229. 

Sanctification,  the.  See  Kiddush, 
the. 

"  Sanctification  of  the  Name " 
(Kedushath  ha-Shciii).  See 
Ainida,  the,  the  third  Benedic- 
tion of. 

•'  Sanctity  of  the  Day."  .SVv 
Amida,  the,  the  Middle  Bene- 
diction of,  on  days  of  rest. 

Sanhedrin,  the,  the  supreme  body 
in  the  Pharisee  state,  24 ;  directs 
the  dismissal  of  capital  cases, 
25  ;  last  president  of,  at  Jeru- 
salem, 27;  of  Jamnia  broken 
up,  29;  at  Usha,  29;  proclaims 
the  new  moon,  57  ;  adds  a  thir- 


INDEXES 


481 


teenth   month,   58 ;    announces 
the  new  moon,  61-2. 

School  of  the  Law,  a,  established 
at  Jamnia,  28;  at  Usha,  29. 
See  Babylonia,  the  schools  of. 

Scribes,  Treatise  of  (Soferim), 
date  and  contents  of,  38 ;  on 
the  morning  hymns,  183,  184  ; 
on  the  liturgy  of  the  Ark,  282  ; 
on  the  reading  of  Canticles  and 
Ruth,  284,  286  ;  on  the  Book  of 
Esther,  286. 

Scriptures,  the,  lessons  from,  in 
the  Synagogue,  20  ;  quotations 
from,  in  the  Talmud,  37  ;  fur- 
nished with  vowel-signs,  38; 
exegesis  of,  by  Abraham  Ibn 
Ezra,  39 ;  commentary  on,  by 
Rashi,  41;  Midrashic  interpre- 
tation of,  44,  48  ;  the  holidays 
in,  60-2 ;  passages  from,  in  the 
Prayer  Book,  82-3,  180-92;  pas- 
sages from,  precede  the  Kad- 
dish,  107 ;  passages  from,  in 
the  confession  of  sins,  169-70, 
172;  double  readings  in,  252-3; 
the  accents  of,  308. 

Scroll,  the.  See  Esther,  the  Book  of. 

Scrolls  of  the  Law,  rules  for  the 
preparation  of,  38  ;  kept  in  the 
Ark,  65  ;  how  written,  66  ;  how 
encased  and  ornamented,  66 ; 
in  the  prayer  for  a  new  month, 
219;  prayer  from  the  Zohar 
when  taken  out,  241-2;  sacred- 
ness  of,  247  ;  the  number  of, 
used,  256-7,  258,  259 ;  liturgy  on 
removing,  from  the  Ark,  278 ; 
liturgy  on  "  holding  high,"  280 ; 
in  Greek,  292  ;  circuits  with,  on 
the  "  Joy  of  the  Law,"  325-6. 

Seburaim,  teachers  of  the  post- 
Talmudic  period,  38. 

Seder,  division  of  the  Pentateuch, 
250. 

Seder,  the,  explanation  of  the 
four  cups  of  wine  at,  48  ;  Mid- 
rash  in,  48;  Hal  lei  in,  180; 
children  ask  the  questions  at, 
337,  359-60 ;  the  Kiddush  and 
the  four  cups  of  wine  at,  354 ; 
the  Mishna  on,  356-7  ;  constitu- 
ents of,  358;  programme  for, 
358-66  ;  the  four  sons  of,  360-1. 


|  Sefardim,  the,  origin  of  name  of, 
12 ;  description  of,  12  ;  pronun- 
ciation of  Hebrew  by,  13-15  ; 
the  intoning  of  prayers  by,  15  ; 
tolerance  of,  41  ;  in  touch  with 
the  Ashkenazim,  42  ;  accept  the 
Shu  than  Aruch  as  authorita- 
tive, 43  ;  colonies  of,  43  ;  name 
of  the  Rabbi  among,  68 ;  late 
introduction  of  the  Mourners' 
Kaddish  among,  1 10 ;  originate 
the  accents,  311. 
Sefer  Tora.  See  Scrolls  of  the 

Law. 
Segan,  the  presiding  officer  at  the 

desk,  71. 

Segol,  an  accent,  308. 
Selah,  explanation  of,  114. 
Seleucidae,  the,  referred  to,  21. 
Seleucus,  the  Era  of,  beginning  of 
the  year  in,   59;   used   in   the 
Books  of  Maccabees,  etc.,  62 ; 
used  by  the  Jews  of  Yemen,  63. 
Selihoth,  the,  poetic  compositions, 
added  to  the  confession  of  sins, 
169,  223 ;  pendant  to,  169 ;  in- 
troduction  to,   in   the  evening 
service,  169-70;  Biblical  verses 
in,  192 ;   place  of,    in  the  ser- 
vices, 224-8,    230;    characteris- 
tics of,  230 ;  specimens  of,  239- 
40. 

.SW/'/W/£-days,  the  order  of  con- 
fession on,  173. 
Sfinahotli.      See    Joys,   Treatise 

of. 

Separation.     See  Habdala. 
Sepharad,  identified  with  Spain, 

12. 

Sephiroth,  the  Ten,  in  the  Cab- 
bala, 52  ;  in  the  oldest  prayers, 
52 ;  in  the  "  Book  of  Forma- 
tion," 53. 

Septuagmt,  the,  transliteration  of 
Hebrew  names  in,  13 ;  the  Tetra- 
grammaton  in,  84. 
Seraphim,  the,  of  Isaiah,  51. 
Sermons,  in  the  Synagogue,  1 1-12; 
founded  on   Midrash  and  Ag- 
gadta,  48 ;  in  the  Synagogues  of 
Galilee,  65  ;  time  of,  79. 
"  Service  "  (Aboda).    See  A  mi  da, 

the,  the  fifth  Benediction  of. 
Service  book.    See  Prayer  Book. 


482       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Services,  the  public,  beginning 
and  prevalence  of  Reform  in, 
1 1 ;  modernized,  1 1-12  ;  Hebrew 
the  language  of,  13 ;  number  of 
persons  needful  for,  67-8 ;  iden- 
tity of,  with  home  services,  75  ; 
length  of,  8 1 ;  antiquity  of.  87-8. 

"  Set  Table,"  the.  See  Shulhan 
Aruch. 

Sevilla,  birthplace  of  Abudraham, 
41. 

Shabbathai  Tzebi,  encouraged  by 
the  Cabbala,  55. 

Shammai,  in  A  both,  197 ;  saying 
of,  197. 

Shammai,  the  school  of,  rise  of, 
26;  disputes  of,  with  Hillel's 
school,  27  ;  on  the  "  Sanctity  of 
the  Day,"  147 ;  on  the  reading 
of  the  Shema,  300. 

Shammash,  paid  official  under  the 
Parnas,  71,  274. 

Shebarim,  a  Shofar  tone,  320. 

Shebat,  name  of  the  eleventh 
month,  58 ;  length  of,  59. 

Shechina,  the,  a  phase  of  the 
Deity,  50;  rests  on  ten  men 
assembled  for  the  worship  of 
God,  106 ;  in  the  fifth  Benedic- 
tion of  the  Amida,  1 17. 

Sheelthoth  u-Theskuboth,  the 
decisions  of  the  Geonim,  39. 

Shekalim,  one  of  the  four  distin- 
guished Sabbaths,  257-8 ;  the 
H af tar  a  of,  271. 

Sheliah  Tzibbur,  messenger  of 
the  assembly,  69.  See  Leader, 
the. 

Shema,  the,  importance  of,  75,89; 
Biblical  warrant  for,  75-6 ;  as 
recited  by  Rabbi  Judah,  76 ; 
time  for  reciting,  76,  79;  bene- 
dictions before  and  after,  76,  89- 
90;  joined  to  the  Amida,  77; 
quoted  and  explained,  90-1  ;  ad- 
dress before  the  benedictions 
of  ("breaking  on  the  Shema  "), 
105-6.  no,  in,  261;  and  "poe- 
tries," 224,  225,  227-8;  posture 
during,  300 ;  how  to  be  read, 
303,  305,  307 ;  not  read  during 
Sliib'a,  330 ;  at  death,  333 ;  as 
taught  to  children,  335. 

Shana,  the,  the  evening  benedic- 


tions of,   named    and    quoted, 
89-90,  91-3,  210-11;  partly  used 
in   the   night    prayer  for   chil- 
dren, 336. 
See  also  Ahaba;  Geulla. 

Shema,  the,  the  morning  bene- 
dictions of,  number  of,  95  ;  the 
text  of  the  first  of,  95-6  ;  analy- 
sis of  the  first  of,  96-7  ;  the  text 
of  the  second  of,  100-1 ;  analy- 
sis of  the  second  of,  101-2  ;  the 
text  of  the  third  of,  102-3;  ai> 
alysis  of  the  third  of,  103-4 ; 
poetical,  222. 

Shemini  Atzereth.  See  Booths, 
the  Feast  of,  the  eighth  day  of. 

Shemone  Esre.    See  Amida,  the. 

Sheragga,  a  "holy  name," 281. 

Sherira,  Gaon,  historian,  39. 

Sheva  mobile,  pronunciation  of, 
14,  17. 

Shitfa,  week  of  mourning,  329; 
the  services  of,  329-31  ;  for  whom 
kept,  330 ;  how  counted,  330. 

Shofar  (Cornet),  the,  the  manner 
of  blowing,  319;  the  tones  of, 
319-20,321 ;  the  "sitting  sounds" 
of,  320-1  ;  benediction  over.  321  ; 
qualifications  of  him  who  blows, 
321-2;  not  blown  on  Sabbath, 
322. 

"  Shofaroth,"  Scriptural  passages 
in  the  New  Year  service,  155  ; 
text  of,  160-1 ;  solemnity  of, 
161-2. 

Shower  labboker,  early  morning 
service,  173. 

Shulhan,  desk  in  the  Synagogue, 
66. 

Shulhan  Aruch,  the,  code,  com- 
piled by  Joseph  Karo,  42  ;  an- 
notated by  Moses  Isserles,  42; 
rigor  of,  42  ;  contents  of,  42-3  ; 
authority  of,  43 ;  on  the  end  of 
the  Amida,  120  ;  on  the  Middle 
Benediction  of  the  Amida,  146; 
on  Abinu  Malkenu,  170 ;  on  the 
"  reception  of  the  Sabbath," 
1 88;  on  the  reading  of  the  Law, 
261 ;  on  the  use  of  Targum,  290 ; 
on  singing  in  the  Synagogue, 
305;  quoted,  394,  431,  433. 
See  also  Orah  Hayiin. 

Shurek,  pronunciation  of,  14. 


INDEXES 


483 


Siddur,  the  German  prayer  book, 
223  ;  the  Col  Bo  edition  of,  223. 

Sidra,  a  section  of  the  Mosaic 
Law,  247. 

Silluk,  an  accent,  308. 

Silluk,  "poetry," 226;  on  the  Day 
of  Atonement,  229;  on  the  New 
Year,  237-8. 

Simeon,  brother  of  Judas  Macca- 
beus, referred  to,  22. 

Simeon,  Rabbi,  sayings  of,  198. 

Simeon,  the  cotton  dealer,  on  the 
Ainida,  133,  137. 

Simeon  the  Just,  date  of  the  death  | 
of,  21  ;  last  member  of  the  Great 
Synod,  21,  197  ;  say  ing  ascribed   | 
to,  22. 

Simeon  bar  Cochba,  the  rebellion 
of,  29;  supported  by  Jews  of 
Cyrenaica,  32. 

Simeon  ben  Gamaliel,  Patriarch 
at  Usha,  29 ;  on  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  178;  in  Aboth,  197. 

Simeon  ben  Joha'i,  pretended  au- 
thor of  the  Zohar,  54,  55. 

Simeon  ben  Shetah,  Pharisee 
leader,  25 ;  and  grace  after 
meals,  340. 

Siniha  of  Vitry,  publishes  a  Mah- 
zor,  41. 

Simlai,  teacher  at  Tiberias,  33. 

Sivan,  name  of  the  third  month, 
58  ;  length  of,  59  ;  Pentecost  in, 
61. 

Slanderers  (Malshinim),  in  the 
Ainida,  132-3. 

Soferim.    See  Scribes,Treatise  of. 

Sof  Pasuk,  an  accent,  308. 

Solemn  Days.  See  Atonement, 
the  Day  of ;  New  Year. 

Solomon,  prayer  of,  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  Temple,  66. 

Solomon  the  Levite  (Alkabets) 
poet,  1 88,  233,  244. 

Solomon  ben  Isaac  (Rashi),  Pen- 
tateuch commentary  by,  40,  41 ; 
disciples  of,  41,  42  ;  an  authority 
in  Spain,  42  ;  on  the  Shewn,  90  ; 
on  the  phylacteries,  317;  quoted, 

383.  395.  404,  438. . 
Solomon  Ibn    Gebirol,  poet,  39, 

229,  234  ;  "  Song  of  Unity"  by, 

229,  234. 
"  Song   of  Glory,"  verse  on  the 


phylacteries  in,  48 ;  supposed 
author  of,  229. 

Song  of  Songs.     See  Canticles. 

"Song  of  Unity,"  by  Solomon 
Ibn  Gebirol,  220. 

"Song  of  Zion,"  by  Samuel  Sul- 
zer,  12. 

Songs  of  Zion,  by  Mrs.  Henry 
Lucas,  quoted,  231-2,  233,  235-6. 

Soul,  the,  in  the  Cabbala,  53 ;  five 
names  of,  229. 

Spain,  the  Jews  of,  Sefardim,  12. 
See  Sefardim,  the. 

Spanish  Age,  the,  of  Jewish 
literature,  39-41. 

Spanish  names  used  in  the  ser- 
vices, 281. 

Spanish  ritual,  Jews  of  the.  See 
Sefardim. 

Spice-box,  at  the  Habdala,  351. 

Study,  importance  of,  193  ;  provis- 
ions for,  in  the  liturgy,  193-202 ; 
of  the  Law,  benedictions  over, 

194-5- 

Sulzer,  Samuel,  and  Synagogue 
music,  12. 

Sun,  the,  worshipped  by  the  Is- 
raelites, 97. 

Sunday,  the  Day  of  Atonement 
cannot  occur  on,  60 ;  New  Year 
cannot  occur  on,  60. 

Superstition,  discountenanced  by 
the  Tanna'im,  30-1  ;  in  the 
Babylonian  Talmud,  36. 

Sura  (Mahasia),  Abba  Areka, 
head  of  the  school  at,  34 ;  the 
discussions  at,  form  the  Baby- 
lonian Talmud,  35  ;  regains  im- 
portance, 38-9;  seat  of  a  cen- 
tral authority,  45.  216,  251. 
See  also  Babylonia,  the  schools 
of. 

Susa,  Purim  in,  287. 

Synagogue,  the,  beginning  of, 
64-5 ;  name  and  place  of  the 
platform  in,  64 ;  meaning  of  the 
word,  65 ;  mention  of,  in  the 
Gospels,  65 ;  the  Ark  of,  65-6 ; 
the  scrolls  of,  66 ;  the  desk  of, 
66 ;  place  of  men  and  women  in, 
66-7 ;  uses  of  the  ante-room  in, 
67  ;  furnished  with  benches  and 
chairs,  67  ;  business  officials  of, 
71 ;  how  fitted  up,  299. 


484       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


Synod,    the    Great.      See    Great 

Synod,  the. 
Syria,  Jews  in,  31-2. 
Syriac,  the  Tetragrammaton   in, 


Tabernacles,  the  Feast  of.  See 
Booths,  the  Feast  of. 

Talith,  prayer  shawl,  when  and 
by  whom  worn,  313. 

Talmud,  the,  on  the  opposition 
between  the  Pharisees  and  the 
common  people,  27 ;  Baraitha 
in,  30,  35  ;  Rab  and  Samuel  in, 
34;  code  of,  by  Isaac  Alfassi, 
39;  code  of,  by  Maimonides, 
40,  42  ;  contents  of,  44 ;  protests 
against  anthropomorphisms,  49; 
on  the  names  of  God,  52 ;  the 
benedictions  in,  87-8 ;  short  form 
of  the  Geulla  in,  92-3 ;  on  the 
introduction  and  close  of  the 
Ainida,  119,  120;  on  the 
Hanucca  and  Purim  insertions 
in  the  Ainida,  126;  on  the 
"Kingdom"  verses,  156;  on 
Abinu  Malkemi,  164;  on  the 
confession  of  sins,  166,  167;  on 
"  Master  of  all  Worlds,"  207  ;  on 
the  "  Benediction  of  Song,"  208, 
209 ;  on  the  reading  of  the  Law, 
249,  251;  on  the  benedictions 
over  the  Law,  262  ;  on  the  divis- 
ions of  the  Law,  263  ;  on  the 
Haftaroth,  273,  275  ;  on  the  use 
of  Targum,  290 ;  on  kneeling, 
301  ;  on  covering  the  head,  302  ; 
studied  in  a  sing-song,  311  ;  on 
the  phylacteries,  316,  317;  on 
Shofar  blowing,  320 ;  on  the 
wedding  benedictions,  333 ;  on 
the  night  prayer,  335 ;  on  the 
grace  after  meals,  340,  341  ;  on 
Habdala,  35 1  ;  on  Kiddush,  354. 

Talmud,  the  Babylonian,  origin 
and  date  of,  35 ;  Baraitha  pre- 
served in,  35,  37  ;  the  sayings  of 
Palestinian  teachers  in,  35  ;  by 
whom  reduced  to  writing,  36 ; 
"  Epikurps  "  in,  36 ;  the  science 
of,  36;  liberality  and  morality 
of,  36-7  ;  on  Pharisees  and  Sad- 
ducees,  37 ;  language  of,  37 ; 
importance  of,  37  ;  commentary 


on,  by  Rashi,  41 ;  on  the  ninth 
Middle  Benediction  of  the 
Amida,  133;  on  the  "abstract 
of  the  Eighteen,"  138-9 ;  passage 
from,  in  the  Polish  liturgy,  201; 
on  the  benedictions  at  rising, 
203-4,  205;  on  the  cycles  of  the 
reading  of  the  Law,  250,  252 ; 
on  the  lessons  from  the  Law, 
258 ;  on  Shofar  blowing,  320. 

Talmud,  the  Jerusalem  (Palestin- 
ian), the  discussions  at  Tiberias, 
33-4 ;  on  the  growth  of  the 
liturgy,  34 ;  date  of  the  comple- 
tion of,  35;  language  of,  37; 
Midrash  in,  45  ;  on  the  Ainida, 
78,  137,  139;  on  the  Ofanniin, 
97  ;  on  Shofar  blowing,  320. 

Tarn.     See  Jacob  Tam. 

Tammuz,  name  of  the  fourth 
month,  58 ;  length  of,  59 ;  a  fast 
in,  62. 

Tammuz,  the  Seventeenth  of,  fast 
on,  62  ;  Abinu  Malkenu  on,  164. 

Tanna'im,  the,  the  period  of,  22 ; 
the  second  period  of,  25-9 ;  dis- 
countenance superstitious  prac- 
tices, 30;  successors  to,  35. 

Targum  Jonathan,  translation  of 
the  Prophets,  290;  used  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  290-1 ;  used 
by  the  Sefardim,  292. 

Targum  Onkelos,  translation  of 
the  Law,  289 ;  origin  of  name, 
289 ;  peculiarities  of,  289 ;  regu- 
lation about  the  reading  of,  289 ; 
in  Yemen,  290 ;  in  the  Tal- 
mud and  the  Shulhan  Aruch, 
290. 

Tarphon,  Rabbi,  saying  of,  198. 

Tav,  pronunciation  of,  14,  17. 

"  Teacher  of  the  Perplexed,"  The, 
by  Maimonides,  40;  meets  with 
opposition,  42. 

Teba,  Mishnic  name  of  the  Ark, 

65- 
Tebeth,  name  of  the  tenth  month, 

58 ;  length  of,  59 ;  a  fast  in,  62  ; 

number  of  scrolls  used  on  the 

New'  Moon  of,  257. 
Tebeth,  the  Tenth  of,  fast  on,  62. 
Tebir,  an  accent,  309. 
Tefilla,  the  German  prayer  book, 

223. 


rNDEXES 


485 


Tefilla,  the.     Sec  Ami  da,  the. 

Tcki'a,  a  Shofar  tone,  319,  320. 

Teki'a  gedola,  a  Shofar  tone,  32 1 . 

Telisha,  an  accent,  309. 

Telislia  Ketanna,  an  accent,  309. 

Temple,  the,  of  Herod,  25  ;  lamen- 
tation for,  28-9 ;  treated  of,  in 
the  Mishna,  30;  fasts  in  com- 
memoration of,  62  ;  worship  of  j 
song  and  prayer  in,  64  ;  prayer 
towards,  66  ;  \\vtAniida  recited 
in,  78 ;  the  Tetragrammaton 
pronounced  in,  84,  174;  the  re- 
sponse customary  in,  105  ; 
Psalms  recited  in,  188. 

Temple,  the  second,  dedication 
of,  19  ;  finished,  20  ;  the  Shcma 
in,  90-1:  the  Ainida  in,  119; 
the  '•  Water  Fetching  House," 

3^4-5- 

Temples,  the  modern,  misnamed, 
67. 

Ten  Commandments,  the,  text  of 
Pentecost  "  poetries,"  228 ;  in 
Jitliro  and  Vaetiihannan,  248  ; 
the  lesson  for  Pentecost,  254 ; 
how  honored,  262,  300 ;  a  Tar- 
gum  of,  291. 

Tcphillin.     See  Phylacteries. 

Teru'a,  a  Sliofar  tone,  320. 

Teshnba,  meanings  of,  129. 

Tetragrammaton,  the,  meaning 
of,  52  ;  the  pronunciation  of, 
84  ;  when  pronounced  as  writ- 
ten, 84,  91,  174  ;  miracles  attrib- 
uted to,  84  ;  in  Targum  Onktlos, 
289  ;  kneeling  while  pronounc- 
ing, 301. 

Teutonic  race,  the,  descent  of,  12. 

"Thanks"  (Hodaid).  See  Ami- 
da,  the,  the  sixth  Benediction 
of. 

"  Thanksgiving,"  second  benedic- 
tion of  grace  after  meals,  345. 

Thirteen  qualities  of  mercy,  the, 
in  the  Order  of  Confession, 
169;  recited  before  the  Ark, 
279. 

Thirteen  rules  of  R.  Ishmael,  in 
the  liturgy,  194. 

Thrice-Holy  (Kedusha),  the,  in 
the  benedictions  of  the  S/ic//ni. 
97  ;  importance  of  the  responses 
in,  106;  in  the  Amida,  114-16; 


German  and  Sefardic  variations 
of,  115-16;  to  be  said  in  com- 
pany, 188;  and  ''poetries,"  224, 
225-6,  237. 

Thunder,  benediction  OYIT.  334-5. 

Thursday,  Psalm  for.  iss.  See 
Monday. 

Tiberias,  the  Ashkenazic  ritual 
originates  at,  15  ;  seat  of  tin-  Pa- 
triarchate, 33,  45 ;  teachers  of, 
33>  35  j  Sages  of,  on  the  four 
cups  of  wine  at  the  Seder,  48. 

Tifha,  an  accent,  309. 

Tikknn  ( Arrangement),  used  on 
Pentecost,  202. 

Tithes,  paid  by  the  Pharisees,  24, 
27  ;  not  discussed  in  the  East, 

35'  37- 
Tishri,  name  of  the  seventh  month, 

58  ;  beginning  of  the  year  in,  59 ; 

length  of,  59 ;  occurrence  of  the 

new  moon  in,  60;  feasts  in,  61  ; 

fast  in,  62. 

Titus,  referred  to,  29,  62. 
Toledo,  Rosh  Rabbi  at,  42. 
Tora,  the.    See  Law,  the  Mosaic. 
"  Tosafists,"  Rashi's  disciples  and 

successors,  41,  42. 
Tosefoth,    additions     to    Rashi's 

Talmud  commentary.  \  \ . 
Tosifta,  the,  contents  of,  38. 
Totafoth,  frontlets,  314. 
Tradition.    See  Law,  the  oral. 
Tradition,  the  chain  of,  in  A  both, 

197. 
Transliteration    of    Hebrew,    by 

Greek  letters,    13;    system  of, 

13,  16. 

Trinity,  the,  of  the   Cabbala,  55. 
Tripoli,  Jews  in,  32. 
Trope.     See  Accents. 
Tsediikiyiin.    See  Sadducees.  the. 
Tuesday,  Psalm  for,  188. 
Turkey,  the  Jews  of,  Sefardim,  12; 

Ashkenazim  in,  13. 
Turkey,  the  Sefardic  Jews  of,  Cab- 
balistic   interpolations    in    the 

liturgy  of,  243. 
Tzere,  pronunciation  of,  14. 
Tzitzith.    See  Fringes. 

U-Ba  le-Tzion  ("  A  Redeemer  will 
come  to  Zion"),  187-8,   191,  214. 
U-mippenc  hatacnit,  150. 


486       JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOME 


U-nethanne  tokef,   "  poetry  "  by 

Amnon  of  Mainz,  237-8. 
United  States,    the,    the  Reform 

ritual  in,  n. 
Unleavened  Bread  (Matzd)  to  be 

mentioned  at  the  Seder,  357, 362. 
Ur  of  ihe   Chaldeans,  Midrashic 

interpretation  of,  47. 
Usha,   school   and  Sanhedrin  at, 

29  ;  a  religious  center,  32. 

Vaethhannan,  a  division  of  the 
Pentateuch,  248 ;  when  read, 
249. 

"  Vehu  Rahum,  long,"  186-7,  2I3- 

Verse  divisions,  none  in  the  scrolls 
of  the  Law,  66  ;  known  to  the 
Mishna,  308. 

Vespasianus,  permits  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  school  of  the  Law, 
28. 

Viddui.  See  Confession,  Order 
of. 

Vienna,  Synagogue  music  at,  12  ; 
Portuguese  Synagogue  at,  16. 

Vitry.     See  Mahzor  Vitry. 

Vorbeter,  German  name  of 
Hasan,  69. 

Vorsanger,  German  name  of 
Hazati,  69. 

Vowel-signs,  the,  origin  of,  38 ; 
none  in  the  scrolls  of  the  Law, 
66,  260 ;  none  in  the  Prophets 
formerly,  70. 

Vows,  remission  of.  Set:  Col 
Xidre. 

Vulgate,  the,  and  the  translitera- 
tion of  Hebrew  names,  16;  the 
Tetragrammaton  in,  84. 

Washing  of  hands,  the,  a  Phari- 
see custom,  24,  27  ;  benediction 
before,  204. 

Watches,  the,  services  of,  81. 

Wedding,  services  at  the  home, 
332-3 ;  supper,  a,  grace  after 
meals  at,  345-6. 

Wednesday,  New  Year  cannot 
occur  on,  60  ;  Psalm  for,  188. 

"  Were  our  mouth  full."  See 
"  Benediction  of  Song." 

Wheels  (Ofainiitn),  the,  of  Eze- 
kiel,  51  ;  in  the  benedictions  of 
the  She  inn,  97. 


Willow  Day.  See  Booths,  the 
Feast  of,  the  seventh  clay  of. 

Wine,  grace  after  drinking,  346-7  ; 
at  the  Kiddush,  349 ;  at  the 
Habdala,  350, 35 1  ;  at  the  Seder, 
358. 

Wisdom,  interposed  between  God 
and  the  world,  50. 

Women,  position  of,  in  the  Tal- 
mud, 36 ;  and  the  reading  of  the 
Law,  260 ;  the  "  holy  names  " 
of,  281 ;  exempt  from  certain 
observances,  312. 

Word,  the,  interposed  between 
God  and  the  world,  50. 

Word-accent,  the,  observed  by 
the  Sefardim,  15. 

Work-day  services,  where  hold, 
67  ;  plan  of,  like  those  of  holi- 
days, 75  ;  three  Ainidas  in,  79; 
length  of,  8 1 ;  the  Middle  Bene- 
dictions of  the  Amida  of,  128- 
39 ;  "  Benediction  of  Song  "  in, 
209-10. 

World  (Creation),  the,  the  Era  of, 
in  the  Zohar,  55  ;  in  the  Cuzari, 
62-3 ;  not  known  when  intro- 
duced, 63. 

Worms,  Rashi  dies  at,  41. 

"  Year  of  deeds."    See  Seleucus, 

the  Era  of. 
Year,  the  Jewish,  two  beginnings 

of,  59- 

Yekuin  Pnrkan,  language  of,  215, 
216;  objections  to,  215  ;  text  of, 
215-17  ;  history  of,  216. 

Yemen,  the  Jews  of,  customs  and 
language  of,  17  ;  use  the  Era  of 
Seleucus,  63 ;  use  Targum  On- 
kelos,  290 ;  the  Seder  of,  366. 

Yigdal.     See  Creed,  the. 

Zachor,  one  of  the  four  distin- 
guished Sabbaths,  257-8;  the 
Haftara  of,  271. 

Zadok,  disciple  of  Antigonus  of 
Socho,  philosophy  of,  23. 

Zakef  Gadol,  an  accent,  309. 

Zakef  Katon,  an  accent,  308. 

Zarka,  an  accent,  309. 

Zechariah,  the  Messianic  prophe- 
cies of,  revived,  26 ;  angel  in 
the  dream  of,  51. 


INDEXES 


487 


Ze  in  i roth,  morning  hymns,  224. 
.S'<v  Morning  service,  tlie. 

Zerubbabel,  leader  of  the  first  re- 
turn, 19;  the  first  of  the  Chiefs 
of  the  Exile.  34. 

/ion.  in  the  Prayer  Book,  83. 

"  /ion,"  elegy  by  Jehuda  Halle vi, 
229. 

/iv,  name  of  the  second  month,  58. 

Zn/urr,  the,  the  leading  text-book 


of  the  Cabbala,  54  ;  author  and 
pretended  author  of,  54-5  ;  con- 
tents and  language  of,  55  :  (1m- 
trincs  of,  55;  spread  of,  55-6; 
a  prayer  from,  in  the  liturgy, 
241-2.  243.  278. 

Znlath^  "poetry."  225. 

/unz,  restores  the  Pcsikta,  273 ; 
quoted,  372,  383,  393,  399,  4'X 
438. 


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1896.  426pp.  $1.00. 

"Among  the  many  speeches  recorded,  we  have  found  several  of  much 
more  than  ordinary  power." — Public  Opinion. 


PAPERS  OF  THE  JEWISH  WOMEN'S  CONGRESS.— Chicago, 

1893.     270  pp.     $1.00. 

"This  collection  interprets  the  motive  force  which  actuates  the  daugh- 
ters of  Israel  under  all  life's  circumstanced,  and  it  is  certainly  to  the  credit 
of  the  Jewish  women  of  America  that  they  should  have  been  able  to  so  effect- 
ually voice  the  sentiments  and  thoughts  that  pervade  their  sex." — Jewixli 
World,  London. 


PUBLICATIONS 

FICTION 

DREAMERS  OF  THE  GHETTO.— By  I.  ZANOWILL.    537  pp.   $1.50. 
Sold  to  Members  only. 

IN    THE   PALE.    Stories  and  Legends  of  tlie  Russian  Jews. — By 
HENUY  ILIOWIZI.    367  pp.     $1.25. 

"  Henry  Iliowizi  ....  is  a  master  of  both  humor  and  pathos,  as  is  shown 
in  his  book  of  stories  and  legends  entitled  '  In  the  Pale.' " — Sunday- He/tool 
Times.  • 

CHILDREN     OF    THE    GHETTO.— By  I.   ZANGWILL.     2  vols. 
451  pp.,  325  pp.     $2.50. 

"Nowhere  else  has  been  given  us  more  realistic  pictures  of  the  shahhi- 
ness,  the  unwholesomeness,  the  close-packed  human  misery,  the  squalor,  the 
vulgarity,  the  sharp  struggle  in  the  mean  competition  of  life,  in  the  East 
End  of  London.  .  .  .  [Hut]  there  is  a  world  of  poetry,  of  dreams,  of  imagi- 
nation, of  high  calling,  of  intellectual  subtlety  even,  in  which  sordid  London, 
not  Jewish,  has  no  part  nor  lot."  —  CHAHLKS  DUDLEY  WAHNEU,  Harper's 
Magazine. 

RABBI  AND  PRIEST.— By  MILTON  GOLDSMITH.     314  pp.     $1.00. 

"The  author  has  attempted  to  depict  faithfully  the  customs  and  prac- 
tices of  the  Russian  people  and  government  in  connection  with  the  Jewish 
population  of  that  country.  The  book  is  a  strong  and  well-written  story."— 
Public  Opinion. 

THINK  AND  THANK.— By  S.  W.  COOPER.    Illustrated.     120  pp. 
50  cents. 

"Sir  Moses  Montefiore  is  the  hero  of  this  story.  .  .  .  'Think  and  Thank.' 
will  please  boys,  and  it  will  be  found  popular  in  Sunday-school  libraries."  — 
New  York  Herald. 

VOEGELE'S    MARRIAGE    AND    OTHER    TALES.— By  Louis 

SCHNABEL.     83  pp.     Paper.     25  cents.     (Special  Scries  No.  2.) 

"'The  False  Turn  '  is  a  charming  little  sketch,  and  the  humor  of  it  very 
delicate  and  amusing.  '  Voegele's  Marriage'  I  mid  also  very  artistic  anil 
interesting." — EMMA  LAZARUS. 


Publications  sent  from  the  Society 's  office  post-paid.     For  sale  by  the  Tru<l< 
Sfif-cinl  terms  to  schools  and  litiraritt. 

THE  JEWISH  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 

1015  Arch  Street  (P.  0.  Box  1164) 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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3/975 


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UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  UBRARY  FACILITY 


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